May 19 & 20: Polar Opposites

Friday, May 19th - General

The weather was just okay, but better than it had been in Sandusky (or Michigan, for that matter) over the previous week. The crowds were nice and light - almost everything was a relative walk-on. We waited less than 20 minutes for: TTD (2), Raptor front row(2), Mantis front row(1), Magnum front row, ejector (2), Gemini (1) and Skyhawk (3). We waited about 40 minutes for a front row ride on MF (2), then about 20 for another ride somewhere in the middle. Overall, I felt that things were going well in terms of dispatching and so forth, though the light crowds could have contributed to my happiness. We did all of these rides between 4pm and 8pm when the park closed for the night. We were pretty bummed that it was closing at 8pm, considering how quickly we were able to get on everything. This bummed-ness was amplified even more the following day.

After leaving the park, we decided to play some Challenge Golf, as we had tickets that came with our Lighthouse Point package. We played the red course as it seemed to have fewer people on it, which was probably due to the flooding on holes 7 & 13. To be fair, we were warned about this, but didn't care a great deal. Hole 7 was just a little wet, while 13 was completely unplayable. All-in-all, we had a great time playing putt-putt.

Saturday, May 20th - General

We weren't feeling very motivated to get inside the park that morning, probably still in a state of bliss after the light crowds the previous day. We finally got in at about 9:20am, and were going to get in line for TTD, but the line already looked kinda long, and because it is still experiencing sporadic, though admittedly brief, periods of downtime, we voted against it. Instead, we headed to Skyhawk, where we were able to get 3 rides in, only having to wait one cycle between each.

After getting our fix of the swing, we headed out toward the main midway. Holy crap. There, we saw what was to be a clear indicator of the insane crowds that day. We took a trip to the arcade to play some skiball, then went to get a ride on BS, since we figured the lines would be relatively short there. No luck - 1 hour wait! Wha?!? Okay... So, anyway, we then headed back toward FT, hoping to get a ride on MF before the crowds got too heavy. No luck there either, so we figured we'd just hop on CCMR and Gemini before heading back to our cabin for lunch. CCMR was taking forever, as they were having some difficulty (according to the employee at the queue entrance). The line was almost 200 people deep at that point, so we aborted that mission. Walking by Gemini, we saw the lines were going to be long everywhere, so we resigned to eating some burgers & dogs at the cabin.

The remainder of the day was pretty uneventful, as we headed back in from around 12:30pm until 3pm to get on MF and SH once again. At that point, the sun was getting hot and we were a bit tired, so we decided it was time to take a breather before the rest of the night. So, we were off to take a nap at the cabin... Does this mean I'm getting old? ;)

After our nap and some dinner back at LHP, we headed back into the park around 6pm. We were able to get on SH, MF & Maggie. Because the crowds were still heavy, we figured it was as good a time as any to catch a ride on DT. The wait was 1.5 hours. Yeah, you read that correctly. 90 minutes. So, we decided against that, of course, and instead got some cotton candy from the midway, though not from one of those handy-dandy carts (see more on that below).

After some casual meandering around the park, it was getting near closing time, so we decided that we should check out the line for TTD. It was no longer or shorter than it had been all day, so we decided to head in. I was a bit hesitant, as it had been experiencing downtime almost regularly throughout our trip, even if it were only for a quarter or half-hour each time. Sure enough, about 20 minutes into our wait the announcement came. Because it was 9:51 at this point, we decided to stick with it. Within 20 minutes, we heard the rumbling of the "engines" and the hum of the launch, followed by a pretty rigorous amount of cheering. We were on and off that ride and headed out of the park at around 10:50pm.

Other things I noticed throughout the trip...

Ride Operations

While I'm certainly no expert, I think I have a valid opinion - as does any park guest - when it comes to the overall experience with the rides. Generally speaking, I was pleased, though the stations for Maggie & TTD need to be regulated. On Friday, when it was nice and slow, there was an op at the TTD station, which was (I thought) a good sign. Though, on Saturday when it was really needed, this person was absent, and the station was a complete mess. I tried to do my part by wating at the entrance to the station until it cleared out, considerably, but there were folks behind me whining, as if it made any difference whatsoever when we entered the station. Nevertheless, I ceded my position, and headed into the disaster area, trying to find a discernable line. Maggie's station was, as always, a complete and utter clusterberry. 'Nuff said.

Skyhawk

I must say, I absolutely love this ride. My favorite non-coaster at CP used to be Power Tower, as its one of the very few I can ride over and over with no worries about nausea. I'm sorry, PT, but there's a new kid in town, and he's my new best friend.

Skyhawk gives some incredible airtime, breathtaking visuals and enough speed to make for one very exciting ride. Given that this ride is accessible for a wider range of rider as compared to most things in the park, I'd have to say that its a great addition to the CP stable. There were people of all ages enjoying this thing, which is always great to see.

The color scheme is nice, yet a tad flawed. The gold band that separates the blue & white seems drab and almost like it was an afterthought. I'm sure this is not the case, but to the casual observer it may seem like a poor quality finish. Of course, I'm quite an analytical nerd, so who knows? The compressor room does blend in well. Its funny, because I didn't even notice it until I actually made a point to check it out, so they've succeeded there. The landscaping around FT is great, as always, and the new lighting is right on par with everything else. I think the changes they've made, with the exception of the clear-cut construction area, are great.

Project 2007

We didn't spend too much time looking at the construction site, but what we did see was pretty impressive. The are is fairly expansive, and there are quite a lot of footers back there. I think the turn-around (assuming that is what it is) is going to be great there by the bridge.

The barren landscape is quite noticable from the Skyhawk area, and that may be intentional. However, being able to see such a large chunk of big water from that part of the park is a bit strange. Although, I'm sure that view will be just a tad sweeter this time next year.

Lighthouse Point

Wow. This place is great. We were in cabin 84, and our patio had an absolute perfect view of the entire park. What a great feeling it was to stand there drinking my morning coffee and having a smoke while watching the entire park slowly come to life. I may just go broke because of this place.

The cabin itself was very nice. There were only 3 of us, as 3 others dropped out at the last minute, so there was an abundance of space. Having 3 places to sleep, plus the small loft area means that you can fit quite a lot of people in there, if need be. We were quite happy with the fit and finish of the cabin, and everything was clean and well-kept.

We brought our own full-size gas BBQ, which was nice, as we were able to eat burgers & hot dogs without any significant waiting. I was a little worried the management would take issue with my having brought it, but several CPPD and other personell drove by several times and had no problem with it, so far as I could tell.

EDIT: Oh, how could I forget about the cotton candy?

Well, I was quite disappointed with the cotton candy. Apparently, there are no more stands selling the sticky blue goodness, as we didn't find any throughout the entire weekend. We actually walked around the entire park on Friday looking, until we finally settled on buying it from a regular old midway vendor. Where have the carts gone???

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Overall, it was a good trip. We all had fun and had a nice, relaxing weekend. We certainly were hoping for smaller crowds on Saturday, but the light crowds on Friday helped ease that pain. Plus, it's now going to be easier to convince my friend Adam (who was against the idea of a Thursday-Friday trip, and instead wanted to do a Friday-Saturday trip) to go during the week in later in the year.

:)
*** Edited 5/23/2006 12:28:46 PM UTC by djDaemon***

We we're at LHP May 16-20. Agreed, this is THE place for us! We love it every year. I had requested a cabin near the pool, and we got #12 this year. Most nights we were the only ones in this section of the resort. Nothing like enjoying a morning cup of coffee, or a late night steak on the grill overlooking the park.

I agree the park is in fine form this year, or at least it was last week. I could not believe the amount of people eating cotton candy! A great move in my opinion. We got at least one ride on EVERY ride that we we're allowd to ride on, and multiple rides on all of our favorite coasters, including 6 in a row one morning on MF! What a wake up call. I found the employees to be friendly and helpfull, with an eye on safety at all times!

I too loved Skyhawk, my only complaint was the short ride cycle. I would assume this is cycled this way because it's in it's first year. I would imagine you will see a longer ride cycle next summer.

One think that made me think and laugh......how different parts of the park are swarmed with crowds on different years. When I was a kid the Project 2007 area was a very very busy part of CP. Shoot the Rapids was there, and the line would often stretch past the concession stand. The Last Chance Saloon was always packed, and that section of the park was always packed! Over the years with WWL this section of the park always remained somewhat busy, but not nearly as busy as in the years past, even with the addition of Mean Streak (Which is my opinion is still a rough ride this year). We stopped for a brew at the Last Chance, went outside to smoke, and couldn't help but comment on how this year this part of the park was a virtual ghost town. I felt like telling the people working in this area "Dont worry, next year you will be packed back here!"

The weather was hit or miss on our four day visit, but all in all we lucked out. It was cold every morning and evening, but we really only got rained out on Thrusday afternoon, which was physics day, so it was a blessing in disguise.

Things that would make my visit a little better......

Some sort of path between TTD and MF, man is that a long walk, and it took it's toll on my feet!

A better way of running the package deals in the resorts, sitting around till 4:00 pm with a Starlight Ticket is a bummer, and discounted tickets to Soak City are no help to us when we live in Florida and visit the point in May.

A better system for exclusive ride time for resort guessts. It seems between Joe Cool and everyone else who gets in the park 30 minutes early, you just dont get much ride time, especially when the three rides that are open are in three different parts of the park. I'm a night person, and I would prefer a wrist band that would let me stay in the park later at night, but that is just my opinion.

Crowds were very light during our visit, but man oh man the traffic comming into the park when we left Saturday morning was unbelievable! We left the point areound 10:30 and the line for MF was already into the first que area. The parking lot was at least 3/4 full, and the line of busses comming into the park streatched well down Perkins Road.

Overall a great trip, sorry I didn't get to meet any of my fellow L H Point'ers in the morning walks, but heck it was just too cold in the morning to venture much past our deck. Maybe next year.

Mike
*** Edited 5/23/2006 12:36:24 PM UTC by Disney Mike***

Yeah, we started to walk down the boardwalk on Saturday morning, but didn't get too far before we realized what a bad idea that was. :)

Maybe next time we'll be able to meet up, Mike! Next May, I'm going to make a 3-day Tuesday-Thursday trip. Saturday was quite a bummer for us.

While it's still a little early for us to make plans for next year, we are discussing Tue-Fri the first week of operation. Hopefully Project 2007 will be ready, the weather will be a little better, and Physics day will once again be the second week.

But a bad day at the point is still better than a good day at work!

Yeah, at this point we're only tossing around the idea as well. Based on this trip, we'll be back to LHP this time with a larger group, I hope.

You and I probably passed each other several times while marathoning Skyhawk during resort time Saturday morning. We did 4 rides in a row before it got busy... I was wearing a shirt with the MF Test Seat sign on the back of it...

We actually didn't make it back to SH until a little after the running of the bulls - we were actually up by Maxair at that time. Even so, we then headed back to SH and there was still a nonexistent wait.

If you were there, I must have missed ya, as I was pretty unobservant whilst around SH. That ride fascinated me, so my eyes were typically glued to it. You may have seen me, though. Brown cargo pants, black hoodie/grey t-shirt, taking pics of SH in action.

Haha I probably missed you because I was also taking pictures.. I think you and I have a similar view of Skyhawk...

Probably - I was hesitant before my first ride, given that I am so prone to ride-induced nausea. About 1/3 way through my first ride, I could not help but laugh, hoot, holler and scream with excitement. That ride is my favorite non-coaster, and in my top 3 rides in the entire park now.