Opened in 2009 Manta is the third B&M coaster at Seaworld in Orlando. Manta is the second flying coaster I have ridden after Air at Alton Towers in the UK. I really enjoyed Manta and at the time of year we visited in September the ride had hardly any queues.

For anyone who hasn’t rode I would recommend the back seat, its very intense and enjoyable.

I don’t really have that much more to say about Manta other than if your in Florida and you get the change to ride it, enjoy it

Manta at Sea world Lift Hill.

Manta’s stats, courtesy of http://www.rcdb.com

Length : 3359ft

Height : 140ft

Drop : 113ft

Max speed : 56mph

Duration : 2:35

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I have been requested by a few visitors to include some pictures from my trip to Florida last year and if im honest Ive been a bit lazy posting some of these, one request is for Journey to Atlantis at Sea World.  I didn’t get to ride this due to an ear infection picked up earlier in the week on some water other water rides. For anyone planning on visiting Seaworld in the near future from the reports Ive had its not a ride to be missed.

Originally installed in 1998 by Mack rides Journey of Atlantis is clased as a water coaster or as some enthusiasts title liquid coaster.

Top of the ride.

View looking from the bottom of the final drop.

Trains climbing the lift hill of Jounrey

 

Heres a couple of video showing some POV views.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks for reading.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Manta is 3359ft in Length, with a height of 140ft with 4 inversions. Cant wait until September when I get to ride it

I was fortunate enough to ride Millennium force a number of times during a visit to Cedar Point in 2007, we counted about 6 or 7 rides during our visit. After those experiences Millennium force dropped straight in at the number one spot as my favourite coaster.

Millennium force is a favourite of many enthusiasts and since its opening in May 2000 it’s never dropped below the 2nd ranking for the golden ticket awards “top steel roller coaster”.

Millennium force cost Cedar Point 25m USD to build and was built by Intamin AG over the winter of 1999.

Looking up at the lift hill  from the side of the station. Photograph taken on the cedar point railroad.

Looking up from the queueline.

The final banked turn into the station, at this point the trains are still running very quickly.

After the first drop a banked turn

Same view from a different angle

And again, you can see the height more clearly here

A couple for the technical guys. Millennium Force doesnt use a conventional chain lift as other coasters because of the sheer weight of the chain, opting instead for a cable driven system, a catchcar descends down the lift and hitches on underneath the center of the train, this in turn pulls the trains up the 45 degree lift hill to 310ft at which point the catchcar goes over the edge of the hill and disengages the train to start its 93mph ascent to the bottom of the first drop which is 80 degrees and 300ft.

Cable assembly at the bottom of the lift hill.

One of the many tunnels, the trains moved at some speed through these. Top thrill dragster in the background.

A train almost at the top.

Ride station.

Red car, hydraulic lap bars and seatbelt.

Inside the station.

I swear this elbow wasnt in the picture when I took it.

Final blast of airtime coming into the station.

Did i mention the big queues at Cedar Point, this one was about 2 hours.

Related youtube video of Millennium force.

Showing the construction.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On Ride video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And finally some facts about Millennium Force.

• Length 6595 ft
• Height 310 ft
• Drop 300 ft
• Top Speed 93 mph
• Duration 2:20
• Max vertical angle 80 degrees

Millennium force operates with 3 trains and has a capacity of 1300 riders per hour – Thanks for http://www.rcdb.com for the stats.

If you would like to use any photographs in this set please contact me using the contact form dont just steal them, if you have any commercial enquires again just use the contact form.

Thanks for reading.

]]> http://www.ridemad.com/millennium-force-at-cedar-point/feed 0 http://www.ridemad.com/mantis-at-cedar-point http://www.ridemad.com/mantis-at-cedar-point#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:19:49 +0000 Admin http://ridemad.com/?p=197 Built in 1996, Mantis is one of the tallest and fastest stand-up scream machines in the world.

Built by Bolliger and Mabillard (B & M) Mantis is another unique ride experience at Cedar Point. Guests board stand up trains and fly down a 145-foot-tall first hill at a top speed of 60 mph.

This stand-up roller coaster turns riders upside down a total of four times, includes a 137-foot drop at a 52 degree angle.

Here’s some brief details about the ride.

In 2007 Cedar Point recorded 983,445 guests riding Mantis. I visited in June 2007 and rode this twice the first time after a considerable 1hr 30 minute queue in the scorching heat.

Technical details.

Capacity    Approximately 1,800 riders per hour
Features    119-foot-tall vertical loop, 103-foot-high dive loop, heavily banked 360-degree turn, 83-foot-tall inclined loop, 360-degree flat spin, figure-eight finale.
Ride Time    Approximately 2 minutes, 40 seconds
Speed    Approximately 60 mph
Cost    $12 million
Manufacturer    Bolliger & Mabillard (B & M), Monthey, Switzerland

Physical Dimensions

Angle of Descent    52 degrees
Lift Height    145 feet
Track Length    3,900 feet
Vertical Drop    137 feet
Vertical Loop Height    119

Vehicles
Eight rows of passengers standing four-across, Three 32-passenger trains
Vehicle Design    Single ergonomically adjustable pillars with shoulder harnesses
Number of Trains    3

Pictures

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Want to discuss this further visit the forums or use the contact form at the top of the page.

Heres a selection taken of the dreams come true parade which was on mid afternoon in Magic Kingdom. For any Disney purists out there this isnt meant to be the full parade just a small selection of the photographs I had taken.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used.

Thanks for Reading.

Taken from the Universal Islands of adventure website Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw falls is one of the most eloborate over the top log flume rides I have ever had the pleasure of riding, Based in the toon lagoon area of the park you cant miss this ride and the buzz of the crowds as they line up on the bridge to take photographs.

It seems we are all fascinated about watching others get a complete soaking.

oh and you do get wet, if you think you have got away with it after the drop these guns on the far side of the flume ensure you arent left out.

Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw falls has operated at Universal Islands of Adventure since 1999. The final drop is 75ft and the ride can hold something like 400,000 gallons of water.

The ride duration is about 5 minutes and during this time you are immersed in the story and the themeing of the ride.

Heres the rest of the photographs taken as part of this trip.

Heres a youtube video showing the full ride.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

Top Thrill Dragster was introduced to Cedar Point in 2003. It was made by Intamin and has a height of 420ft, at one point it was the highest coaster in the world, only to be overtaken in 2005 by Kingda Ka at Six flags great adventure, New Jersey at 456ft.

The ride has a top speed of 120mph which is reached in a breathtaking 4 seconds.

For those that requested here’s some of my pictures taken during this trip. I hope you like them.

A couple of the ride entrance.

The Queue line, really feeling the heat about a 1 hour wait.

finally inside the entrance.

The Trains.

Waiting to Launch.

Seconds later.

End of the launch for the hydraulic geeks.

Some general shots of the ride.

Ride Structure.

Ride Exit.

And finally one of my favourite shots took about 8:30pm as the sun was going down.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used.

Thanks for Reading.

The Incredible Hulk was a coaster I was really looking forward to riding in Florida, located on the Marvel Super hero island themed area in Islands of adventure the hulk dominates the skyline, it can also be seen from most other areas of this superbly themed theme park.

Built by B&M in 1999 and with a top speed of 67mph the Hulk is still entertaining thousands of visitors daily.

Huge Cobra roll.

On our visit in February 2008 the park was quite busy so we decided to buy fast pass for all the big attraction to save queuing for most of the day. Our party was 2 adults and 2 children with only 1 adult and 1 child wanting to ride the coasters. The queue lines were showing upwards of 40 minutes for most rides so although costing another 140 dollars the fast pass worked out for us and it saved the good old arguements between the kids about how many rides each of them had.

Like everything at Universal the hulk is brilliantly themed some of it over water and in the evenings Universal take advantage of this and light up the coaster.

For anyone who hasn’t ridden the Hulk its a launched coaster so you don’t have any of the click, click when going up the first hill. The hulk is propelled by tyres up to its max height of 110ft the launch is in a tunnel so you have the feeling of not knowing what is coming next and before you realize it your at the top of the launch hill and daylight is coming fast. One of the great elements of the hulk is at the top of the launch rather unlike a traditional coaster of going down the hulk flips you 360 degrees so your right into the action which continues over the full 3700ft of track.

My daughter who is 11 complained about the ride quality of the hulk and she suffered some quite bad ear bashing to both sides of her head, it was completely opposite for me but i am taller and her ears were right in between the restraints. Its worth bearing this in mind if you havent ridden it before It could put some children off, my daughter is a hardened rider and although she didnt want to ride the hulk again it didnt put her off wanting to try the other coasters.

Heres the pictures.

from a distance.

Bottom of the launch hill.

Another shot of the cobra roll.

And some general shots and a video.

Video i found on youtube. Theres loads of on ride videos but this seem to have the best quality.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

The ride was redesigned during this time and following a soft opening in September 1993 it offically reopened in 1994. The ride was opened by two of the films stars Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) and Brody’s wife (Lorraine Gray)

Out of all the rides and attraction at Universal Studios Jaws is one of those rides I had most looked forward to visiting. Im a huge fan of the Jaws films especially the first one and can still recall with anorak accuracy some of the most famous lines from the film. 

As you have probably guessed Jaws is a boat ride around the make believe Island called Amity, home to Chief Brody.

The theming as you would expect from Universal is fantastic. I’ll start this look at the attraction from the outside, queue line and then a trip on one of the Amity Boats.

One of the most popular images from the film, the bill board advertising the 4th July annual regatta.

The Queueline.

Lots of props.

The island and theming.

One of the many tour boats.

The ride itself goes completely around the Island and back into the loading bay. Along the route you come across various fishy/sharky scares along the way and its almost a guarantee that you will get splashed if you sit on either side of the boat. Although for me the left side was the worst.

I must say the boat drivers/guide on this ride are absolute nuts and no matter how many times they have done this attraction and the script they dont fail to get a feeling of suspence over the visitors, if someone tongue in cheek.  

Previous tour boat or shark attack.

Our first encounter with Jaws.

Were gonna need a bigger boat.

To avoid further attacks we take shelter in a salvage shed.

Flames/gas and electrical cables, never a good combination.

  

Here’s Jaws for a bit more action and the final attack on the boat.

Poor Jaws. but he doesn’t give in.

The trip back into the station.

My opinion on this.

Well for what its worth it is showing it’s age but I still feel its a great attraction that the whole family can enjoy. Initially my children were a bit bothered in case it came near the boat.. but if you have kids and they are slightly nervous just sit them in the middle of the boat.

I sat on the left hand side facing the driver and you seem to get more visibility of Jaws and more action on this side.

I purposely missed out some bits of the ride and the running commentary by the guides, I dont want to spoil this for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to ride this.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Is the third of the Disney theme parks built at Walt Disney World Resort Florida, opened in 1989 originally as Disney’s MGM studios and later renamed in January 2008 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios following a long running legal case with MGM.

The park is 135 acres in size and is layed out in several lands or themed areas around a central core which in this case is a huge sorcerers hat (belonging to Mickey).The park features some major ‘dont miss’ attractions like The Hollywood Tower Hotel and Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster featuring Aerosmith.

As usual with Disney they have a show in the evening this one is called Fantasmic which is described as a visual hydrotechnic show with fireworks, water and amazing lighting effects. The show last for about 20 minutes and can be quite spectacular. I wont give much away about the plot or the story but its an ideal way to relax after a day on the park. They also have live on stage beauty and the beast, although we didn’t catch this. The area around Fantasmic can become quite congested as its right next to The Hollywood Tower Hotel and Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster featuring Aerosmith.

I would advise anyone wanting to see this show to arrive early to make sure you get a seat especially in the busy periods.

Lights, motors, action extreme stunt show.

Brought over to Disney Hollywood studios from Disneyland Paris. Features a number of cars, motorbikes, jet ski’s and various static sets to create a car/chase stunt sequence with explosions, daredevil stunts, advanced driving techniques and tricks used in the movie industry. Its all done perfectly well and I know they must have done this a thousand times before but the driving precision is perfect.They use a number of cars during the filming of this live event each with their own special tricks. After each sequence is shot the announcer then spends a couple of minutes going through what they have done and explaining how various techniques are used.

The climax of the show is a crazy short sequence featuring fire, explosions, people jumping from buildings, motorbikes, jet skis and people on fire. Its a really top attraction at Disney Hollywood Studios.

The stadium holds a few thousand people but I would advise anyone wanting to see this to get in early, we arrived about 40 minutes prior to the show starting and were lucky with a great choice of seats.

The Hollywood Tower Hotel.

Located in the Sunset Boulevard area of the park you cant miss the huge hotel as it dominates the area with its scorched effect look.

The scorched front incidentally comes from the story that the hotel was hit by lightening in 1939 and a number of guests mysteriously vanished after this. The ride queue starts outside in the brilliantly themed gardens, the queue line follows a path until you reach the hotel reception which is gloomy and covered with fake cobwebs (as if it hasnt been touched since been hit by lightening). Once through reception you are greeted by two ride ops dressed in 1930′s style bell boys suits and they shuffle you all through to the pre show area. Once in the pre-show area a TV with the Twilight zone music starts up and the shows presenter Rod Serling greets you and tells the tale of the missing guests. This only last a couple of minutes and the doors are open and you walk into the hotel basement.Its at this point you realize how much Disney put into theming even the smells in the basement seem to be authentic as is the machinery that is scattered around the dimly lit area.Theres 3 lifts in total each with a separate queue line and you are called to stand on a spot for loading. They have a very odd loading sequence which seems to work really well back row left and right first followed by the middle and front rows. Loading is seemless and a seatbelt is all thats required to hold you in.Once strapped in the ‘trying’ to be scary bell boy or girl check every is restrained and the doors close.The doors shut and the lift goes up what sees like one floor and the doors open again onto an endless corridor which is lit by wall lighting.

Reception

Suddenly an apparition appears in front of the lift which is the 5 people that vanished on the night of the storm and the corridor lights switch off. At the end of the corridor you can make out a spinning door and the lift doors are closed again.

Going even higher this time the next time the doors are open you are in the 4th dimension and the lift suddenly starts to move forward, it doesnt go far but this is the ‘so called’ 4th dimension.

You hear a clicking sound and the next thing you know the lift is engaged onto the drop part of the ride.They say each ride on the Hollywood Tower Hotel is different and I can well believe this, we rode a few times one evening and each time was definately different from the last, some go up slow and drop, others go up quick and drop. What is for certain is at the highest point of the ride the doors open and your ride picture is taken, you also suddenly realise just how high up you are.

I’m not a drop ride fan and I tend to stay clear of most of them but as a dark ride fan I couldn’t really turn this offer down. Its a brilliant attraction in my opinion and I could ride it over and over again without any problem.

Indiana Jones extreme stunt show.

This is another huge attraction at Disney Hollywood Studios containing seating for what seems like a couple of thousand people. Again if you want to visit ensure you arrive with plenty of time to get a decent seat.

This is another attraction that gives you a great insight into the movie making business. We start of with Indiana Jones dropping from the ceiling and trying to avoid some spikes (as in the film if you have seen it) As you can see from the picture Indy is looking for some clues so he can steal an ancient statue.

You can guess the next bit, big ball comes rolling down for Indy to avoid.

They start to introduce some volunteers here and have them act out various scenes from the film including a fighting scene and a truck getting blown up.It was a great show and its something the whole family can enjoy, it lasts for about 30 minutes in total and for me it was a welcome rest.

I think they change this show slightly as when we saw it the rain had just stopped and allot of the set was wet. I can imagine some of the stunts in the wet weather can be dangerous. I would also imagine over time they could change the content or refresh it slightly.

Muppets 3d

Another huge attraction at Disney Hollywood Studios, featuring all your favourite Muppet characters in a 3d film, It wont tell the story but its introduced my kermit and all the characters are involved at some point. Look out to the balcony seating to catch Statlor and Waldorf heckling the show and characters. Its a another great show to be enjoyed by all the family.

Backlot Tour.

Another insight into the moving making business this time the backlot tour. The tour starts in a huge water tank where demonstrations of bullets and bombs attacking ships is shown, again this is a great insight and also has some audience participation when someone acts out a scene trying to steer a ship through rough seea before a thousand litres of water is tipped over him. After these first scenes you walk through some prop buildings that are full of items and then you board the tram and continue the tour.

The tram takes you around various parts of the lot and items from the movies are scattered all over the place including models from Con-Air and Pirates.

The next part of the tour is the most impressive, im sure most people have seen this sequence of events before i know i certainly have a number of times. Its where the tram arrives at a innocent looking mountain with a truck perched on it, once you are level with the truck all hell breaks loose, flames, the truck dropping and thousands of gallons of water come pouring down towards you, if you sit on the left of the tram you get a very slight splash nothing more, its quite a spectacular sequence.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster staring Aerosmith.

A really well themed looping coaster. The rides main focus is an after hours party with Aerosmith. You are invited to a party by your host Aerosmith and you need to get through the city as fast as possible to attend it.

This is a rockin, rolling and fast ride which features a loop and moments of complete darkness. I found this a bit rough especially around my ears, my daughter who rode with me had no problem with it, i guess it depends on where you sit and your size.

Star Tours.

Firmly based on the star wars film star tours is quite a big attraction, you cant fail to hear star tours, anywhere within a hundred metres you can here the laser blasters shooting. Its a simulation ride based loosely on some events in the film and lasts for about 10 minutes.

Drew Carey’s sounds dangerous.

I didnt really know what to make of this attraction, you are led into a theatre and you wear a set of headphones, the host comes out and reminds you that some of the show is in complete darkness (so beware if you have young children). You watch a few minutes of film and then nothing just sounds in your ears. Perhaps I went into this with the wrong frame of mind, i just didnt get it. If you did get it and you can enlighten me please get in touch via the contact form.

Other attractions.

Well to be honest theres quite a bit to keep you entertained for the day, some people I have spoke to loose track of which attractions are at which park, hopefully this post will answer some of those questions.

There’s plenty more at this park to keep everyone in the family occupied, this post was never going to show every detail but hopefully its captured some of the major attractions and may help people plan their day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Random Park photographs.

Greenery.

Characters of which theres plenty.

Random.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

Kennywood is located in Pittsburgh.

Before this trip I got in touch with a few people on the KP connection website and the PR people at the park to try and arrange a tour of the Ark, needless to say they were as helpful as can be and a tour was arranged with Gary Baker a ACE’r and Kennywood employee.First Day at Kennywood.

We arrived at the park just after opening, the weather was a bit overcast and was welcome after spending 5 days at Cedar Point in scorching heat previously.

The first couple of hours we spent riding the Jack Rabbit, Log jammer and just really taking in the parks atmosphere, the park has a lovely fun and friendly atmosphere.

Jack Rabbbit coaster.

Ive included a few videos in this post as they can give you a far better understanding of the rides than I can with words. I would advise any coaster fans to try the back seat – its amazing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Log Jammer.

After riding these we spent some time sitting around the Lake waiting for Gary who was due to meet up with us at 2:45pm.

We met up with [Gary had a good chat and made our way over to the Ark.Gary has the most amazing knowledge about Kennywood and is a true ambassador for the park, the ideal person for giving some out of towners some much needed park information.

Noahs Ark

Before doing a tour of the Ark we went through the attraction with a group of other visitors, its completely different to the blackpool one.

You start off in a lift and Gary told us Pittsburgh has had 2 floods and each time its coincided with the ark been built and then later rebuilt, this gets a few nervous laughs from visitors.

While this is going on and you feel the lift is rising the lift actually turns around and you face the opposite direction.A Tannoy annoucement comes over to say they are having some electrical problems and suddenly the lift stops and you enter the attraction.

I wont spoil this for anyone who hasnt been in the ark but I would like to say its completely different and was a welcome change from what I have been used to at Blackpool.

After the walkthrough of the ark we were given a tour of the machine room and components that go into all the strunts the attraction employs, its a very large machine room compared to the small relatively cramped one at blackpool.

The rocking mechanism is almost identical to the blackpool one.

After the Ark we are given front seat access to all the coasters so we spend the new few hours walking around to all the coasters with Gary, bypassing the queues and choosing the seats we wanted, I was introduced to a number of staff during this half of which I cant remember sorry, but they were all very friendly.

We finished the day with a nice evening meal on the park and split up with Gary about 9pm and made our way back to the hotel.

Kennywood Day 2

Just outside the entrance is this little fountain with a carousel horse in it, in the background Phantoms revenge.

Back at the park for our second day, we arrived at park opening and went straight into the park. Garfields nightmare was first, this is a very old attraction and similar to the river caves (or old mill) that we have at blackpool, the ride is painted in very eloborate colours to create the 3d effect as you travel round.

Its not a bad ride for children and some of the humour is quite funny.Next up Turtles, I was dissapointed when the Blackpool one stopped operating a few years ago, At Kennywood it shows how much care they put into these vintage rides as this is a great example.

Its a great ride and for its age its ride very well.Next up we rode the thunderbolt, Ive seen this on some programs been voted the worlds top coaster, I wouldnt go that far personally but its a fantastic coaster, full of thrills and airtime.

Like the Jack Rabbit we rode the day before these coasters are maintained so well the ride quality is superb. Its a brilliant ride, full of suprises. Because of its location on the side of a hill its quite difficult to describe, I have included a youtube video showing the full ride from start to finish as video can speak a thousand words.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Phantoms revenge

Phantoms revenge is an arrow coaster that was redesigned by Morgan during the off season in 2000-2001 when the 4 loops we removed, the track made longer, height increased to 228ft and the cars were modified to remove the over shoulder restraints. Its a very smooth coaster and again because of the park location as a first time rider you can never guess whats going to happen next, the 2nd drop through the thunderbolt supports is fantastic

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kennywood Racer.

Kennywood racer is a racing coaster similar to the grand national in Blackpool, 2 trains come out of the station at the same time and race around the track, i didnt find this as thrilling as the grand national but its still a great coaster.

I dont have any pictures of this ride as its quite difficult to shoot so i have included another video showing the full ride.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The exterminator

The last of the coaster we rode at Kennywood the exterminator is an indoor spinning coaster in a completely dark building, I enjoyed this the thrill of not knowing whats coming next adds to this.

Once we got all the coasters out of the way we decided to ride the whip. I forgot how much fun these really are and the one at Kennywood is maintained to a very high level, it looks and rides great.

After riding the whip we took a walk over to the high dive show, this was performed by 4 stunt performers and very fun, lots of crowd shouting and everyone seemed to enjoy this.

At this time of the day we started to feel hungry and headed over to the potato patch for chips or fries (for the americans). I have never thought that having chips with cheese sauce and bacon would be nice, but let me tell you this is amazing – i have never tasted chips like this and probably never will again.

I had to take a picture.

We spent the rest of the day walking around soaking up the atmosphere taking in a few rides here and there. Heres some more photographs taken during this trip.

The Boating Lake.

Beautiful Carousel.

Lost Kennywood

Conclusion.If you have never visited Kennywood and would like to get a feel for a traditional amusement park then this is the place to go, its a fantastic park, not the easiest park to get to in the world but none the less a fantastic park with some great traditional rides, very friendly ride operators and staff. One thing about Kennywood that for me made it so much better than Cedar Point was the relaxing aura that seems to involve the park, everyone is in a good mood and happy, I could quite literally visit Kennywood just to take in the atmosphere its so relaxing.

If you are travelling from the UK and like Pleasure Beach, Blackpool you have to visit this park.

Id like to thank Gary Baker, Rob Henninger and Mary Lou Rosemeyer for helping to organize this tour, it was very much appreciated by the two of us. You have a fantastic park. Thanks

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.

I’ve been visiting amusement parks/theme parks and fairgrounds for a number of years now and like the majority of coaster/park fans in the UK the American shores have always been a place to look forward to visiting.

Putting aside the obvious Disney and Universal parks second on the list for me has always been Cedar Point, they claim its the “Best amusement park in the world”. Boasting 17 coasters and a wealth of other rides plus of course the sun shine and with the pound/dollar rates in our favour at the moment there has never been a better time to visit.

I’ll do this trip report by covering the rides and park first and then the travel details like Flights, Hotel, Car hire etc later. Most of the details will be aimed at UK visitors planning to take a trip to Cedar Point. All the information listed in the travel options are genuine questions that I had before visiting the park. Hopefully any questions any future visitors have will be answered below, if not register a comment or send me an email and I will update it.

Cedar Point the park.

The first thing you notice about this park is the sheer size of it, the park is huge and is very flat.

The park isnt themed as such, they have tried in a few areas for example Maverick is themed on the wild west and top thrill dragster is themed on a drag racing track complete with Grandstand. The rest of the park is just rides, rides and more rides.

Food/drinks in the park.

Theres pretty much everything you could think of available in the park from sit down diners to hotdogs, burgers. You definately wont go hungry visiting Cedar Point.

Merchandise.

Cedar Point seem to have the right idea when it comes to merchandising. Almost every ride has a t-shirt shop next to it. Most rides are available on t-shirts, fleeces, hoodies, ash trays, cups and basically anything you can stamp an image on. Most standard t-shirts are about $10 a little over £5, hoodies are $30 and Jackets about $30-$40 its extremely good value for money. The park clothes we brought back havent faded and all seem to be decent quality. I also brought back some teddys for the kids, these were about £4 each compared to £12-£13 you would pay at places Alton Towers for a similar size.

Smoking.

Smoking at Cedar Point is allowed in designated smoking areas only, although most of the locals seem to ignore this and it was quite common to see people smoking in queue lines. The park has a handful of designated smoking areas and you can normally smell them before you reach them. They are all covered on the park map and shouldnt be a problem to find.

Park Tickets.

If you book a package through one of the on site hotels two one 2 day tickets and 2 night tickets are included, you can also buy tickets from hotel receptions which are $32 each a saving of about $10 on the gate price. Night tickets allow admission after 5pm.

Early Park Admission.

As a hotel guest you are allowed to enter the park at 9am, the nearest entrance from breakers is about 200 metres, just follow the crowds. Guests typically queue from about 8:30/8:40, once it hits 9am the national anthem plays and the gates are open. During our visit there was a bit of a rush to get over to Maverick, usually dads and kids the mums lag behind carrying the days essentials. For our visit in June about 4 or 5 rides are availalbe for early riding before the parks main entrance opens. If you stay at Breakers a sandwich board displaying the rides open early is located in reception. Even though you get into the park early be prepared for some queues.

Ok lets look at the rides.

Ill start with the coasters, i wont go into any depth anyone who is interested in visiting the park will probably know about these anyway.

Maverick.

The newest of the 17 coasters at Cedar Point. At a cost of 21m USD Maverick was opened in 2007. Built by Intamin Maverick is 4450ft in length, has a 105ft first drop with a 95 degree angle and travels at speeds upto 70mph.

This is a fantastic coaster the launch up the the lift hill isnt as fast as it looks but once at the top the fun really starts.

Dropping down a 95 degree drop into a fast and speedy compact track, hugging the ground. Just when you think the fun is over your enter the tunnel for the second of the launches, its fantastic I dont know what else to say.

Some people complained they were getting battered about in the restraints but I felt fine. Im a short 5ft 4 large built bloke and didn’t have any discomfort.

I cant rave enough about this ride the amount of airtime on the hills and the ground hugging track really go to show you dont have to build the biggest to have a fantastic coaster.

Loading and unloading of trains is done in a really efficient way (2 at a time).

They also have a single rider queue but this doesnt become apparent until you are 20ft from the ride platform.

Top Thrill Dragster.

Built in 2003 by Intamin and costing 25m USD Top Thrill Dragster boasts an impressive 120mph (in 4 seconds) launch speed and a height of 420ft.

it cant fail to impresses. Its quite a comfortable ride and the view from the top of the tower over the park is amazing, the ride literally lasts about 20 seconds from start until finish.

As you go over the top and start down the 400ft drop you really come out of your seat and the ground seems to rush towards you. We rode on most seats and found them all equally as impressive.

Launching.

Over the top.

400ft Drop down.

Back into the station.

When we visited the park they seemed to be running about 5 trains and loading/unloading is done really quickly. Its worth remembering they dont have any bins for storage on this ride as you get off in a different part of the station, the staff encourage people to put hats etc down their tops.

A shot at dusk.

Millennium force.

Built by Intamin at a cost of 25m USD and opened in the year 2000 Millennium force is classed as a Giga coaster as it reaches over 300ft high. The lift hill is 310ft high and the first drop is 300ft at an 80 degree angle, follow this up with a 182ft hill and 169ft hill plus a couple of tunnels and you have one hell of a coaster. The lift itself travels fairly quickly and feels like its getting faster as you approach the crest.

coming back into the station

Ride Car

One for the coaster guys

I found this a fantastic coaster, the amount of airtime over the hills is fabulous and the speed going into tunnels is equally as good. The track is almost 6,660ft in length. The only downside is that during our stay we found the queues quite big and we waited an hour or more on all but one occasion.

Side of the station.

For me this was my favourite coaster at Cedar Point and I cant wait to ride it again. I’m not sure how many times we rode it but we did try allot of seat combinations.

Did I mention the crowds.

Magnum XL-200.

Built by Arrow at a cost of 8m USD and opened in 1989 Magnum is 205ft in height and has a top speed of 72mph. The first drop is 194ft and you get a great view of the lake when your riding, It has a few tunnels and some great bunny hills when going back into the station. I heard allot of stories about this coaster been rough but personally me and the guy I was riding with found it to be a great comfortable ride.

The queues werent too bad either. Loading is a bit of a free for all as people rush into the station but thats the only negative point about the ride I could find.

Raptor.

Built by B&M in 1994 at a cost of 11.5m USD Raptor is a inverted coaster.

I found this similar to Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe minus a couple of elements (Coaster guys please dont email about this ). The ride itself is comfortable and the back seats can become a bit intense on the final elements before coming back into the station. Track length is 3790ft, with a 137ft height and 119ft drop. The rides top speed is 57mph.

This ride offers an on ride video experience via some small cameras bolted in between the seats in front of you. The video quality is pretty good but I didnt stop to buy a video unfortunately.

Mantis.

The parks only standup coaster. Built by B&M in 1996 at a cost of 12m USD.

Mantis is 3900ft in length and has a top speed of 60mph. Mantis has a huge 119ft loop that you enter just after the first drop which is 137ft.

119ft loop

I got knocked about on this a fair bit and had a terribly sore ear that evening from been banged into the restraints.

Diving loop

A shot at dusk

I rode it again a couple more times during our visit and still cant rave about it, the diving loop at 103ft is great though .

Wicked Twister.

Built by Intamin in 2002 Wicked twister is classed by as a twisted impulse coaster. It has a height of 205ft and a top speed of 72mph.

Inside the station.

Close up of the wheels

I found this a great ride and really looked forward to riding it, going backwards at 70mph and up a 200ft hill vertically is pretty cool.

Disaster Transport.

This is a coaster that was once in the open air, but changed to been enclosed into a huge building in 1990. The theme is supposed to me a city in disaster, i found this an awful ride with hardly nothing to see and just spent the 2 minutes looking into the darkness. From what I had read about it I expected lasers, huge screens with projected images and got nothing of that. I was very disappointed with this ride im just glad I didnt have to queue for it. The queue line is the strangest I have ever seen, most of it is dark with luminous writing on walls im sure you could get a headache if you had to queue for any length of time.

Blue Streak.

Blue streak is the parks oldest coaster built in 1964 by PTC. The coaster is a traditional woodie and it over 2500ft in length with a top speed of 40mph. For its age and having ridden other woodies I found this really smooth. It runs along the perimeter of the park and each time we went passed it never had much of a queue.

Mean Streak.

Another of the parks woodies. Mean streak was built in 1991 by the Dinn corporation its 5427ft in length and has a 161ft height.

The coaster boasts a 65mph top speed and a 52 degree first drop. From the outside and in the queue lines this looks one impressive coaster and it was one I was really looking forward to riding.

Its a great ride but really does knock you about a bit.

Gemini.

The parks racing coaster. This is a wooden framed steel roller coaster and one of the smoothest coasters ive ever had the pleasure of riding on, its almost silent as it hurries round the 3935ft of track.

The park has operated Gemini since 1978. Top speed is 60mph and the height is 125ft. Although Gemini will struggle to impress customers as much as Milennium force or top thrill dragster is certainly worth the few minutes queue time. The added element of racing makes this a great ride.

Corkscrew.

Corkscrew has been operating at Cedar point since 1976. Its 2050ft in length has a top speed of 48mph a height of 85ft with two corkscrews and a loop. One suprising element of this coaster is the duel corkscrews.

They go right over the top of peoples heads as they walk underneath. If you stay at Breakers Corkscrew is just across the car park and its quite common to see the trains half full.

Iron Dragon.

Iron Dragon buit in 1987 is one of a few suspended coasters in existance today. length is 2800ft and its top speed is 40mph.

Although this is a coaster Ive seen them referred to as monorails before, this doesn’t go fast, doesn’t have any airtime or fancy elements and well wasn’t that comfortable. It does offer a nice view of the park and this is enhanced by part of the ride been over water.

As you approach the water you go through clouds of mist, this wasn’t a bad and if you have a spare ten minutes to wait in line its worth riding.

Wild Cat.

Located just across from Iron Dragon is Wildcat a Schwarzkopf coaster thats been operating since 1978. I didn’t ride this so cant really comment. The ride trains are themed to look like cars. Wildcat is 50ft high and has a 1837ft length of track.

Cedar Creek mine ride.

The mine ride has been operating since 1969, Built by Arrow with a top speed of 42mph, its more a kiddie coaster than anything else. We rode this one evening when the park was about ready to close and found it pretty smooth without many thrills.

Additionally there are a couple of other coasters aimed mainly at children the Woodstock express and Jnr Gemini. I dont count ride credits and couldnt be bothered with them.

Ok, now for a look at some of the flat rides.

Power Tower.

Power tower is a drop tower built by S&S, the tower is split into 4 colums with each having a ride car on. Two ride cars go up slowly and drop you, the other 2 shoot you up. You decide on the car you want as you enter the ride. Im not a fan of these rides so we didnt ride it. The queues never seemed very large.

Demon Drop.
Text taken from Cedar Point website
Built in 1983, the Demon Drop at Cedar Point simulates a freefall from the top of a 10-story-tall building.

Passengers board four-person cars that move horizontally to the base of the 131-foot-tall tower. The car then ascends to the top of the tower in only six seconds. Once at the top, the car slowly inches forward into the drop area. Riders are suspended there for what seems like an eternity.

Then without warning, they plummet 60 feet in less than two seconds before entering a pull-out curve where a computerized braking system slowly stops the car. If you go around this area its fascinating to watch the trains unload after the drop. I cant explain it go see for yourself.

Maxair.

Max air located near wicked twister is a very impressive frisbee ride manufactured by huss.

it was introduced to the park in 2005

Skyhawk.

Located near Maverick Skyhawk is a swing ride from S&S power, similar to what we have over in the UK with Rush at Thorpe Park.

Chaos.

Introduced in 1997 Chaos manufactured by chance.

Cedar Downs.

Most people just walk past the Derby Racers. Anyone who has visited Blackpool with have no doubt rode these in the past.

The main difference is the Cedar Point ones have the racing element so the horses moved forwards and back as you are riding. I dont ever remember this happening at Blackpool although i have been assured it did.

Carousel.

The Cedar Point midway carousel is a traditional Carousel ride. Built in 1912, the Midway Carousel is one of the few Daniel Muller carousels in existence today. Its long history also makes it the oldest operating ride at Cedar Point.

Sky ride.

The sky ride is located on the midway towards the parks main entrance. This is Cedar Points very own cable car. Its not high or long but does give some impressive views of the park and midway.

Cedar Point and Lake Erie railroad.

The train operates from Mean Streak and does a stop near Milennium force before returning back to Mean Streak.

Dont forget to wave to the driver as he goes past . The track is 2 miles in length and the ride/trip lasts 15 minutes.

Thunder Canyon.

This is the wettest rapids ride I have ever been on (Anyone from the UK think Valhalla but wetter), the ride starts of like any other rapids ride, the occasional bump as one of the riders gets a splash. Then you suddenly enter some cliffs and come up against this waterfall which literally soaks the boats and riders, if your lucky enough to miss the first one a second guarentee’s to cover you. When the boat come back into the station I looked down and the water in the bottom of the boat was already above my ankles. It was a welcome soaking to cool down from the 90 degree heat.

Snake River Falls

Made by Arrow this is a 80+ ft water flume ride. Unfortunately we planned to ride this straight after the rapids one afternoon and due to a technical fault the ride wasnt operating.

Other Rides

Loads of them, I havent included half of whats available at Cedar Point and I havent really covered anything for the younger children either. Regardless of age Cedar Point has something for everyone. For a complete list of attractions check out the Cedar Point website.

How to get to Cedar Point, a Guide for Brits.

Cedar Point is located in Sandusky, Ohio. From the UK there are a number of flight options. I checked out most of these and eventually settled on flying BMI (from Manchester) to Chicago with a change to United Airlines for the short 45 minute flight onto Cleveland (Hopkins) international Airport.

Flying times from the UK are about 8hrs 30minutes but these can be as much as 13 hours depending on how and who you fly with. Our flight was 8 1/2 hours with a 1 hour wait at Chicago for the connecting flight. Flights were booked through expedia and the whole process very straight forward.

These days you are issued with e-tickets. This is basically an email from expedia with your booking reference. Take this and your passport to the check in desk on arrival at the airport.

Flight costs.

Return flights for 2 with a convertible (it was upgraded) car was just under £1300. This was economy seating, which wasnt too bad you can upgrade at the time of booking. To be honest when I go again I probably will. Im only small 5′ 4″ and although I had enough legroom I couldnt really get comfortable in the seats. This was made worse by some inconsiderate passengers in front of us who were determined to get their seats so far back they would staple us in. Food/drink on the flight was as you would expect. Soft drinks were free for the duration although they only come round twice.

Car hire.

We hired a car through Hertz and booked via Expedia back in the UK.

We hired a convertible which was £28 per day on top of the normal car hire charge. To add an additional driver is $10 a day and you are allowed to go to different states. I couldn’t get an answer from Hertz customer services in the UK about driving through different states as some rental companies have this rule. I just mentioned it to Hertz when we arrived and they were happy with this.

All the car rental companies are in the same location at Cleveland, you get a shuttle bus from just outside the airport to the car hire area. Buses run all the time so dont expect to wait more than 5 minutes for one. The waiting areas for buses are clearly sign posted. Once they drop you off you go into a concourse style area and every car hire company has a desk, its quite painless.

From Cleveland its about 1hr in a car to Cedar Point and is quite straight forward to find as its all freeway. We took a sat nav device with us and didnt have a single problem. I’ve heard you can book these as part of a hire car package – it will save you allot of time if you do. If you are bringing your own sat nav from the UK check it covers the US before travelling. I used a tom tom 910 and as like the UK its advisable to remove this from the car when your leaving it for some time.

Visa or not to Visa.

This is a common question when visiting the United States, basically if you have a machine readable password (mine is and was renewed in 2005) then you dont need to get a visa before you travel. Once on the plane you are given two small forms to fill in.

The questions on these forms are typically what you would expect. Have you ever been refused entry to the US before?, do you have any links to terrorist organisations? that type of thing. It takes literally 5 minutes to fill in. Once you land you have to queue to see an immigration officer, this is a very formal chat, reason for entering the US, duration etc.

At this point your finger prints are taken and youre allowed in. One of the forms you fill in has a detachable bottom which is removed and stapled into your passport. This is removed once you go through security on your return flights. Remember to take a pen with you and have details of the hotel name and zip code youre staying at. We stayed in two hotels but they only wanted the details of the first one.

Please check with US immigration before travelling as this is only accurate in June/July 2007.

Hotels.

Theres a number of options outside the resort, most of them offer shuttle buses and discounted park tickets to get into Cedar Point. There’s also a number of options at the resort from Camping to the Hotel Breakers. We stayed in Hotel breakers which is right in the heart of the action and is only a 2 minutes walk to the park entrance. We choose breakers over all the other hotels purely based on location. There is a cheaper Hotel “Breakers express” which is located about 1/2 mile from the park entrance. To see a complete list of hotels in Cedar Point checkout the resort link at the bottom of this post.

Hotel Breakers.

The oldest hotel in the resort. Hotel Breakers is a very comfortable hotel located 2 minutes from the park entrance and 20 seconds from the beach. The hotel has Pizza Hut express, an Italian restaurant and TGI Fridays on site, as well as the usual amenities like pools, spa, general store and clothes shop. Its a very nice hotel with large rooms and a bonus for me was a park view. My room was classed as non view which basically means I dont get to see the lake. Coasters or water hmm let me think

They also have people dressed up as Snoopy in the hotel; they visit at various times during the day. In the evening snoopy comes out in his dressing gown ready for bed which is a nice touch, they also have a TV and some kiddie size chairs in reception playing Snoopy cartons all day long.

If you book a package through the hotel you also get a voucher booklet with 2 fundays admission tickets for the park, 2 starlight (after 5pm) admission tickets, a soak city ticket, a free game of Golf, $30 dollars of food vouchers and a couple of other offers, 2 for 1 etc. The food vouchers can be combined and all used at the same time; we took advantage of this in TGI Fridays and spent the full $60 worth.

As with most hotels coffee making facilities are in the rooms along with air conditioning, bath/shower, all towels and shampoo, soap etc. Both our rooms had 2 double beds. I think they will also supply an additional bed as each room can sleep 5.

Vending and ice machines are available on every floor selling bottles of carbonated drinks, water, crisps and chocolate etc.

Food.

As I mentioned earlier TGI-Fridays an Italian restaurant and pizza hut express are all located inside Breakers. Typical cost for a steak with fries or mash is about $17, approx £8 ish, don’t expect a huge portion though. Steaks are typical 8oz and come with 2 standard size dollops of mash potato flavoured with garlic. Pizza hut express do pizzas up to 16″ and all are available on room service for a small additional charge.

Food doesnt just have to be at the hotel; along the Marina (entrance near Raptor) is Famous Dave’s restaurant. Famous Daveís offer some amazing ribs and meat dishes all freshly cooked in a BBQ pit (I dont know what a bbq pit is). All tables come equipped with 6 different types of sauces and the server will go through each of these and advise which is best with chips (fries) etc. Typical cost for a decent meal for 2 with a couple of drinks is about $50. It really is good value and probably the best meal we had for the duration of the holiday. If you are celebrating whilst on holiday the staff come over and sing you a song – it must be very embarrassing but if this is your thing then go for it. TGI’s do the same.

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Breakfast.

Breakfast is served from about 7:30-10:30 and is buffet style it works out at $8.99 for adults and that includes drinks and refills. If you like tea bring your own tea bags as the US ones arent the best.

You can choose not to have the buffet and instead settle for coffee/muffins etc. Most people have the buffet. The buffet is what you would expect but US style. The sausages are very thin and spicy; the bacon is usually crispy and very, very thin. They also do a scrambled egg with peppers/mushrooms which was very nice. Dont expect baked beans though. Heinz tomato ketchup is available everywhere you go.

Resort Passes.

All resort guests are issued with a pass that your supposed to carry with you all the time you are at the resort, this is never checked though and we were never approached or asked for passes. I think mine spent its life on the table in my room.

Parking.

Parking at Cedar Point is $10, if you are a hotel breakers guest you get a voucher that you show security who wave you in. When you first arrive you need to pay the $10 charge, but if you show the ticket to reception they will reimburse you when you check in.

Cost.

Five nights at Breakers with a park package as described above was just over £500 per room. A $244 deposit was taken at the time of booking and the remainder is cleared when you check out. The online booking system Cedar Point resorts use is a bit poor, I actually phoned them in the end and did everything this way. Check out is 11am.

Finally web access.

For anyone who cant bear to be away from work or wants to send greetings back home, they have wifi access in the hotel lobby, I dont think there is a charge for this as people just turn up with notebooks and login.

Credit/Debit cards, chip and pin.

During our stay (June 2007) nobody had chip and pin, they all seem to operate a machine with a screen that you sign. We didnt have any problems using UK cards at point of purchase or ATM machines.

Staff.

Very helpful, courteous polite and friendly. The ride ops have a great way of jeering up the crowds by talking to the queue lines and people boarding trains. Cries of “how was your ride” and “enjoy the rest of your day at Cedar Point, America’s rockin roller coast” can be heard all over the park. Even though it can get a tad annoying I found this a great touch. Manners and a smile cost nothing but can go a long way in giving you a better visitor experience.

Little things like telling you what bins to put your carry on baggage in are communicated well in advance of you boarding the trains. Before you enter the car you are given clear instructions about how to fasten yourself in. All little things but combined they add up to good customer service. Of course most of the customers dont listen. But thats not the point.

Hotel/Bar Staff
We had no problems with any of the staff, all very courteous and polite. The staff in TGI’s are a credit to the resort, nothing was too much for them.

Conclusion.

Well after spending a few days at Cedar point, does it live it up to their claim “the worlds best amusement park”, personally im struggling to find many faults. Its a fantastic huge park with a brilliant collection of coasters.

On the whole the resort offers the ideal family holiday with Soak city and the lake plus watersports you have everything you could ask for.

One thing which is lacking is a decent dark ride, disaster transport just wasnt up to much. You could do so much more with a building that size. I found the size of queues for some rides annoying but they can quite easily be compared to Alton towers/Thorpe Park on an average day.

The advantage of queues on bigger attractions like Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium force means the queues on smaller coasters are shorter. Fun coasters like Gemini never had a large queue during our visit, even Magnum XL never had a considerable queue.

The park has a mixture of everything for young, old and especially thrillseekers. Camp Snoopy and the attractions for the younger kids will keep them quite happy. Food and drink wise you cant go wrong almost every taste is catered for. The hotel Breakers makes an excellent base and in my mind worth paying that bit extra for. Lets face it if your travelling from the UK your already looking at spending about £1500pp why not pay the bit extra and enjoy breakers.

I’ll definately make a point of visiting Cedar Point again. Any regular readers will know my family usually visit parks with me, but on this occasion the flight times would have been to much for them as well as removing the kids from school for a week. Once the kids are older ill revisit, hopefully by then they may have coaster number 18 or 19.

I did 2 parks during this visit. We made the 3 hour trip to Pittsburgh and spent an additional 2 days at Kennywood. A report on Kennywood will follow in the next few weeks.

Credits.

Photographs – Paul Beesley and Andrew Holmes.

Header Postcard – Cedar Point.

Coaster stats – http://www.rcdb.com

Useful websites.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/ – The offical Cedar Point Website.

http://www.flybmi.com/ – BMI website

http://www.expeida.co.uk/ – Holiday company

http://www.hertz.com/ – Car hire

http://resorts.cedarpoint.com/public/resorts/index.cfm?resort_id=2 – Cedar Point resorts

http://resorts.cedarpoint.com/public/packages.cfm – Package holidays

http://www.famousdaves.com – Famous Daves.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis – US immigration

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/cedarpoint-21 – Amazon books on Cedar point.

http://www.thepointol.com/board/ – Cedar Point Enthusiasts forum. Very helpful with some great posts.

Cedar Point related items on Amazon.

If you want to use any photographs on this blog please get in touch paul@ridemad.com im quite happy to share and have high resolution copies of everything used, to see the complete gallery visit the Ridemad Gallery

Thanks for Reading.