Well, Many people thought we were crazy for going on Memorial Day Weekend, but the trip turned out GREAT!!!
Saturday, May 27th:
My friend and I arrived at another guys house in Sandusky about 10 am. The weather was cloudy and drizzling. We drove along the Bay, at which point we all were so excited just to see MF. We got to the park, and were surprised to see a barely filled parking lot. We went to the Raptor since it was my buddy's favorite coaster, and it was right there. The wait was about 45 minutes, and the ride was wonderful. Next we headed to Disaster Transport.
When we got to DT, the op at the entrance told us the ride was closed due to someone puking. Oh well, guess we'll have to go ride Millennium Force.
We were going to wait until Sunday to ride MF with the rest of our friends, but who were we kidding. We went directly to MF. They were running all three trains, and their timing was very good. Once and a while a train had to wait in the brakes to enter the unload station. The wait on Saturday was marked 1 1/2 hours, but it only took us 1 hr 15 min. We rode the red train, seat 6-1, and the ride was awesome!!! From there we decided to make our way around the loop. We next went to Mean Streak.
Was I disappointed!!! Mean Streak was one of my favorite woodies, but not anymore. I realize it used to shake the hell out of you, but that brake on the hill was horrible! We figured since it had been raining, the ride would be good, but that brake made it feel like the train was going to stop on the hill. Then it didn't feel like it was going to make it over any other hill through the course. And rather than shaking you to death, it just shook you enough to be annoying. Of course, there was absolutely no line, we walked right on. We then went to the Mine Ride.
Again no line, but it was a good time. We walked right on, and the ops were hilarious. I quote, "We're going to take you up a whopping 48 feet, dropping you an amazing 35 feet, at a crazy 35 miles per hour. That Millennium Force has nothing on us, except a line!" So when our train returned to the station and he asked "how was your ride?," the three of us yelled and went crazy, just to have a good time. Next we hit the Gemini.
Still a great coaster in my mind. I love the air time you can get, and the drops in this ride all make for a great time. Of course, we had to slap hands with people on the other train, which almost made it even more fun. We waited about 15 minutes for this ride. We then hit the Magnum.
Wow, did this thing feel rough after MF! I was so surprised. However, Magnum is still one of my favorites. It's really hard to beat that drop, and the pretzel loop is really cool. Also, I love all the airtime. It's something I've missed for the last year or so. The wait for Magnum was about 15 to 20 minutes. Next up, Corkscrew.
The wait for Corkscrew was about 5 minutes. The ride was the same to me as it's always been. It's a decent ride, but it really wasn't all that exciting to me or my friends. Next, Power Tower.
I'm scared to death of heights, (don't know why I love coasters, though) so I wasn't too thrilled about riding this one. I've ridden Drop Zone at PKI, and I knew that the drop wasn't that bad, it's everything else involved. So the three of us decided to be shot down. The wait for going down was about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, while going up was about 15 minutes. As I figured, the ride to the top of the tower was horrible (for me), as was the sitting and waiting. I just stared at the other tower the whole time. The drop was awesome, but the bounce back up nearly made me lose the contents of my stomach. Good ride, none the less. It was now about 5:00, so we decided to either ride Mantis, TCFKAB, or go to my friends house for dinner. We walked over, and the line looked to be a little long, so we decided to go eat. We stopped by DT, but the line was at about 45 minutes, so we went back to his house, ate some steaks, then returned to the park around 8:00-8:30.
Upon returning to the park, we decided we wanted a night ride on MF. We walked to it, but it was closed. The op at the entrance said they were having problems, and it would open in about a half-hour. So we decided to ride Mantis while waiting. If there were no tests of MF by the time we got to the station, we would wait for the front seat. We did so, and the ride was great. We waited a total of about 45 minutes, and by this time it was 9:30. They hadn't turned on the lights on the lift of MF, and we went to the entrance again. We found out they had a broken roll wheel, and the ride would be closed the rest of the night. They didn't turn the lights on because of this. So we decided to ride Raptor one more time at night.
The wait for Raptor was about 10 to 15 minutes, and we rode front seat, so we actually waited about 25 to 30 minutes. What a great ride!!!
Then we went back to my friends house to rest up for day 2.
All rides today were running as many trains as possible, most being 3 trains. Great day!!!
Sunday, May 28th
Me and my 7 friends woke up around 7:00am, ate, and prepared for the day. We finally arrived at the park around 9:45, and proceeded to the back-left part of the park. The queue was not open yet, and the line went back under the new tunnel, and around to the petting farm. As we stood there, we saw the test trains go with both water dummies as well as employees riding. When they opened the queue, the line moved along the track, and we were on the trail directly across from the station. When the first train went up the lift, the entire station and line went crazy, cheering and screaming! What an atmosphere. We waited about an hour or so, when the rain really began to come down, and they closed the rides. Then the lightning came, and struck very close. We made it to the last section of the queue that was covered, and we weren't about to move. Everyone in front of us left, so we basically would have been next on the ride, but we didn't see the rain breaking any time soon.
It was around 11, so we decided to go back to my friends house and eat lunch, take a nap, and hopefully return to the park around 3:00. Well, around noon, the rain broke, but we all still decided to wait. We returned around 3:30 or so, and the parking lot wasn't even a quarter full. We went straight to MF again.
The wait now was about 1/2 hour!! As we waited in line, you could see that the yellow train was running slower than the other two. We figured that was the train that had the broken wheel, but we weren't sure. When we got on the ride, sure enough, we had the yellow train. I will tell you this, if it was running slower, you sure didn't notice on the ride. What a ride! I sat 4-1 this time. What a ride!! We then went to Magnum.
Today, Magnum had a 1/2 hour wait, and the ride was great!! Off to Gemini.
Gemini was only running the red side today. The wait was about 15 minutes, and the ride was good, but not as good as yesterday. Now off to Power Tower.
I didn't ride PT today, I explained why earlier, but my friends rode it. I'm not sure which they rode, but they only waited about 10 minutes. Then we went to Raptor.
Raptor had a 5 minute wait. We rode in the back and the ride was as awesome as ever. Off to MF again!!!
We waited about 1/2 hour for the ride, and I sat 6-2 on this ride. This ride keeps getting better and better. Since the line was so short, why not ride again!!!
This time, we waited about 45 minutes. By this time, it was dark. The lights on the hill were awesome. I love how that thing looks at night. The best is the strobes on the hill. That's what was going as we went up the lift. This time, I rode 1-2. The front on this thing is AWESOME!!! I have never ridden a roller coaster that made me feel like this. The four laps I had this weekend has made me feel that this MF is my new favorite coaster!! Awesome!!
Monday, May 29th
This is more of a side note. My friend and I stopped by PKI on the way home, We got there at about 6:30, and we went to ride SOB. Guess what, they closed the line off at 6:30. What the hell??? We were pissed, but oh well, no surprise.
All in all, a great weekend! The weather was not the greatest, but it made for a great weekend, since the crowds were minimal!!!
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UCSigep
boy did you get lucky!!! i can only hope my two-day whirlwind trip there next week bears the same fruit...
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can't believe they cancelled the Simpsons after all these years...now look sad and say D'OH!!