Cedar Point Trip Report
 

My husband and I arrived in Cedar Point on Monday, August 25 and checked into our room at the BREAKERS resort. Room was nothing special, but not too small, however, the bed was like sleeping on the floor. Ummm :? maybe the floor would have been softer. It was located in the older "Twin" section, with a window view of the side of the building and the TOP THRILL DRAGSTER (it was sooo tall that we could see it above the building :)

Anyway, rain was in the area, so waited until Wednesday to hit the Coasters...so on Tuesday, we spent the day touring the area, seeing several lighthouses (including Marblehead, Vermillion, and Lorain (from a distance)). A nice relaxing day after our previous 2 days in Kennywood in Pittsburgh (will have separate report).

Got up early on Wed and entered the Park at 9 AM (for resort guests only :p) and rode the Millennium Force twice, before deciding to wait in line for the DRAGSTER - wrong choice - we ended up waiting 3 hours and getting just to the turnstile (with the ride operating for 15 minutes at a time) and then they shut it down for 5 hours :`( At least we did get a "ticket" to go near the front of the line when it reopened; however, it wasn't until the next day that we finally got a chance to ride it - was it worth the wait? probably not 3 hours, but our next two waits were only 30 and 50 minutes with the 2nd ride having us ride in the first car! Oh, one thing, I'd suggest not riding in the front seat if it is near dusk (it was 8 PM for us) as my husband had about 200 plus bugs all over him by the time the ride returned to the station =-o fortunately, I only had a few on me or they would have had one hysterical guest on their hands - guess he was sitting on the side (right) where the swarm was J. Remember ;) keep your mouth shut at all times on this ride :-))

We rode 14 our of 16 coasters at Cedar Point during our 2-day park stay. My favorites were: Millennium Force, Dragster, Wicked Twister, and the Blue Streak.
We rode all of these at least twice, MF four times - twice in the first seat - TOTALLY AWESOME ((Y)) a must for coaster enthusiasts. Your first drop is 310 feet toward Lake Erie =-O Other coasters I enjoyed were the Iron Dragon and the Wildcat.

We did spend some time in Soak City, and really liked the Lazy River rides -along with a frightening trip down the Zoom Flume - I think the water rides were more dangerous than the coasters? at least I was strapped into the coasters :-)

After 2 long days at the park, we packed our bags and headed back toward Pittsburgh (and a day or two at Mountaineer Park for my husband's hobby :-) before heading back home to Tampa - which isn't a bad place to return to after vacation :S-

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to add more details (i.e., food, other favorite rides (Cedar Downs is a unique and fascinating ride) etc. in later postings.

All in all, our trip to Kennywood/Cedar Point/ Lighthouses/Mountaineer Park was busy and a lot of fun.

Debbie

Went to Cedar Point a month ago. Did not stay in hotel so had only one day.
Millenium Force and Top Thrill were BOTH shut down. (Top Thrill always breaks down and is shut most of the time.) My favorite coasters you didn't mention - the Gemini and the Magnum.

The Gemini and Magnum were not my favorites (though, my husband liked the Magnum). They only had one car running on the Gemini, so kind of spoiled the experience of racing another train. I like the smoother coasters...getting too old I guess for all the jerkiness :-)
Sorry to hear both the Dragster and MF were closed during your visit...IMO those are definately the best coasters there.

Debbie, glad you enjoyed your trip, (for the most part)! I remember your posts when you were planning and that The Sandcastles were full. Sorry to hear The Breakers was disappointing, but i hope you enjoyed the location and also being on that nice beach.

Where did you eat when you did the Lighthouse tour? Did you get to tour any of them, or were they all from a distance?

Thanks for the report. I agree about The Breakers and we stayed in the newest part and in the most expensive room...the convenience of being close to the park is great but otherwise the hotel is like "highrise Motel Six" IMO.
Agree that MagnumForce2000 is pretty awesome even if it is no longer the highest first drop around.

If you sit on the left, it's a little scary. Looks like you're going to tip out into Lake Erie! It's so cool with the tunnels. Great ride!

"ellen"
We visited/saw 5 lighthouses - Vermillion (saw up close, but couldn't go in) Huron Harbour (walked out on the breakwater, but couldn't go in), Marblehead (which we climbed - a very nice lighthouse and museum/gift shop), Lorain and Sandusky (both from a distance). Wanted to get out to Put-in-Bay to see the Perry Monumont and South Bass Lighthouse, but weather was too nasty (lightning) so passed on that boat trip.

I belong to the Tampa Bay Harbour Lights Club, so lighthouses are something I always try to include on my trips :-) In fact, our club helped to preserve the Anclote Key Lighthouse, off Tarpon Springs here in FL, and we are having a "Re-Light the Light" Ceremony this Saturday (Sept 13).

Food - ummm...we ate at some quick "fish" food restaurant the "jolly Roger"...not very good, It was near Port Clinton? I think off Rt. 2. We got Walleye and Perch - the perch was good, but one piece was a bit dried out and they kept the "skin" on (just removed the scales)...sorry - brain block.
We did find a very nice breakfast place in Marblehead...think it was called the Marblehead Galley? Very friendly folks and good food.

Most of the time we ate at the park or at TGIF's at the hotel...which I thought was very good. We normally at at the bar area, since it was a long wait to eat in the restaurant after the park let out. Yes, a bit expensive, but living here in Tampa, seemed like normal :-)

As for the Breakers...it was a nice hotel...location wise - water pressure was pretty good and they tried to keep the hotel clean - though we did find a few spiders and webs in our room :-( I can live with that - the really bad part were the beds being soooo hard and uncomfortable...after spending 12 hours at the parks, I really wanted a nice place to sleep and rest up for the next 12 hour day :-)

Hi Debbie! I have heard the newer portion of the Breakers is much nicer. As for the spiders, they are a real pain along the Lake. We have to get our placed sprayed for them all the time. Glad you liked the Marblehead Lighthouse, I have done that climb too many times to count. Did you have many people chicken out about climbing up? There are usually 5 or so in a group that take one look up those narrow stairs and say no way. It amazes me the lighthouse keeper's wife used to run up and down those stairs in heavy skirts carrying buckets of whale oil to keep it lit. Did you by chance stop at Richmond Galleries in Marblehead?

Hi "buckeyemom"!
Only one person out of our group of about 25 didn't climb Marblehead. It was a very busy Tuesday afternoon... they had at least 3 groups of 25 signed up to climb during our hour visit.
No, didn't stop at the Galleries - was afraid I'd see something I'd really like, but not able to afford :-)
Wish I had stopped, but was also getting late in the day.

Buckeyemom, what exactly are the Richmond Galleries? We usually go to Kelly's or Put in Bay. Has Marblehead become better for shopping? Thanks!

Audra-Richmond Galleries is an art gallery in Marblehead owned by artist Ben Richmond and his wife Wendy. Ben is a very talented painter who paints lake scenes, the Marblehead Lighthouse and other scenes from around Ohio. He was commissioned to do the lighthouse license plate by the State of Ohio. He also has a gallery in Maine and has a house next to Steven Spielberg there. Marblehead has some cute shops, antique shops on the Main Street around Richmond Galleries. :-)

Does anybody know if both Mellenium Force and Topthrill were open this weekend? It's their opening weekend of the season. Did anyone get to go to Cedar Point this weekend??