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Post by Bud Parsley on Jun 4, 2007 20:22:44 GMT -8
Skylark, you'll love Cedar Point; I went last year and it is my 2nd fav park behind Disneyland.
DO NOT MISS MILENNIUM FORCE!!!!
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Post by 65skylark on Jun 6, 2007 11:27:11 GMT -8
Just got back from Ohio. Thought I'd jump in here real quick and post a few thoughts on Maverick.
For starters, the setting and theming of Maverick are great. It is truly a great looking coaster. It actually rained off and on the day we were there, and, Cedar Point for some reason, closes down ALL of there coasters if even one microscopic drop of rain falls from the sky. I still managed to get three rides on Maverick. Two in the back and one in the front. The ride is smooth as glass with lots of speed and directional changes. It honestly only had three moments of air time, and none of them were quite as intense as I had hoped, but they were still good. The lift hill is by no means a launch IMO, but it is still very fast for a lift hill. The first drop in the back is great, followed by a lot of low to the ground turns, before you head over the first air time hill and then into the first two inversions. The launch out of the tunnel is great with some very cool effects thrown in. You blast out of the tunnel and straight into a turn then up what should be another air time hill but they trim it and it really takes away a lot of speed from the launch. I'm not sure if they added this after realizing the heartline roll wasn't going to work but it was a little disappointing. After the trim you make a large swooping turn over the water as water cannons blast right behind you. You don't really notice them as you are riding but it looks very cool if you are watching. After that you make a few low to the ground turns (where the heartline roll was going to be) then you fly into two over-banked turns and one last airtime hill before hitting the brake run.
Overall, Maverick was very fun. This is the type of ride that would fit in great at Silverwood. I did not think it was the best coaster in the park as a lot of early ride reviews have stated. I think early on you had mainly locals riding it that had been on all of the other coasters in the park a million times, so, Maverick being a great coaster, and the fact that it was something new, I think effected the way they rated it. Give it a year or so and people will not be rating it quite so well. As someone who had never been on any of the coasters, I was able to take them all on first impressions, and I would probably rank Maverick number four out of there very loaded coaster line up.
Here's how I rate 'em.
1. Millennium Force. Amazing! The hype is warranted on this baby. I would rate only Goliath at SFOG higher on my steel coaster list and that is saying a LOT.
2. Top Thrill Dragster. The launch, followed by the most insane view you will ever see on a coaster, makes this on heck of a ride. BUT, Xcelerator is still my favorite rocket coaster ;D.
3. Raptor. Out of the six B&M inverts I have ridden to date, this one's the best.
4. Maverick. Great theming, ultra smooth, and a very cool lift and first drop make this a very fun coaster.
5. Wicked Twister. My second Intamin impulse coaster did not disappoint. I love those things.
6. Magnum XL200. The first coaster in the world to break 200 feet and was responsible for starting the coaster wars. This was a very fun coaster and I can see why a lot of people really like it, but let me assure you, this coaster is FAR from being the number three steel coaster in the world.
7. Mantis. I think this coaster actually gets kind of a bad rap. I really enjoyed. It didn't hold a candle to Riddlers Revenge, but it was still fun. 8. Blue Streak. Fun classic out and back woodie. Rode it just after a down pour while the track was still wet and it was great.
9. Gemini. Fun and still pretty smooth for how old it is. Good family coaster.
10. Iron Dragon. Pretty slow and not really much to it. Although, it did have some very low to the water turns at the end which I thought were cool.
11. Mean Streak. I got to ride this one just after it rained also which made it bearable. It just really didn't do much.
The rest of the coasters I did not ride. With the rain, I wanted to get in as many rides as I could on the good ones. The only one I missed that I really wanted to ride was Cedar Creek Mine Train because it was closed all day. I decided Corkscrew, Disaster Transport, Wildcat, and Woodstock Express could wait for another trip.
So there it is. I will have a full trip report up soon. We also hit Waldameer Park in Erie, PA and Geauga Lake so I have lots of pictures.
BTW, Bud, I really did enjoy Cedar Point. My only complaint was there rain policy. There really is no excuse IMO for closing EVERY coaster in the park if it even starts to lightly drizzle. And they absolutely can NOT use safety as an excuse when Disney runs all of there coasters even during down-pours, and they have far more liability to worry about than Cedar Fair. But, that aside, it was a great park with friendly, efficient staff, and more theming than I had expected. I would rate it below only Hersheypark, Dollywood, and of course, the Disney parks I have been to.
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