August 02, 2013

Cedar Point

Yesterday morning, Jerry, the kids, and I drove down to Sandusky, Ohio to go to Cedar Point (an enormous amusement park). The weather was perfect--about 75 degrees and mostly sunny. The kids kept talking about how excited they were to go on the rides, but when they saw the enormity of the park, they were really shocked at just how big it was.


We got there at around 10:30, right after they opened, and the park was pretty busy for a Thursday, but not nearly as busy as it gets on weekends. The kids were pretty scared of the rides, so we suggested we go on a roller coaster called The Iron Dragon first; it doesn't go upside-down, and it's not very rough.

When we got to it, we noticed that it was stuck on the track (with people on it), and they'd closed the line. The coaster next to it, called The Mantis, was ALSO stuck on the track (halfway up the first hill). Not looking good for roller coasters! The kids weren't tall enough for the Mantis, anyway, but Jerry and I weren't sure what other coaster we could start them on. Instead, we just started walking toward the back of the park.

We went on the antique cars (the kids were tall enough to drive them). Eli was scared to drive it! The antique cars are the simplest, gentlest ride at the park, so I knew it would be a long day. But I told him he had to try it, and he ended up liking it.


While we were there, we saw a roller coaster called The Mine Ride, and Jerry and I couldn't remember if we'd ever ridden it. It was a level 4 on a "thrill" score of 1-5 (most of the coasters were 5's), so we decided to do that next.

I really wanted the kids to have a good experience on a roller coaster, so that they'd want to try more rides. Well, I wish we'd picked a different one! It was really bumpy and rough. But the kids didn't hate it, so I was happy about that. After that, though, I had no clue about what roller coasters to take them on. We just let the kids choose some smaller rides to go on. Eli saw this octopus-looking ride, where you sit in a little car and the car spins and goes up and down while the entire ride spins. Basically, I was dizzy just looking at it, but I went on it with Noah. He was all smiles at first:


As soon as it started moving, he started saying, "Mama, I don't like this! I don't like this!" and he was panicking. I was trying to talk to him and tell him to just focus on Daddy and Eli in the cart across from us, but he was really upset. After that ride, I knew we were going to have a problem getting him to go on anything!

I saw a ride called the Super Himalaya (level 3) and I thought the kids would like it. Neither of them wanted to try it, but I told them they had to. I said there would be a few rides that I was going to make them go on (ones I knew they'd like and not be too terrified of). I rode with Eli this time, and he loved it!

That ride was interesting to me, because I rode it once when I was pretty overweight (maybe 185 lbs or so) and it was a comfortable ride. When I rode it this time, however, my hip bones were hurting really badly, because the ride pushes you against the side and the seat belt was digging into my hip.

We walked back over to The Iron Dragon, and it was working again, so we decided to ride that. The good thing about the older or less "thrilling" coasters is that the line isn't very long. We only had to wait about 15 minutes!


This picture Jerry took in line is totally an optical illusion--the way I'm bending somehow makes me look super skinny! (And yes, that would be my running SPI Belt I'm wearing to hold a few necessities).

I rode with Noah, and Jerry rode with Eli. This roller coaster was a lot of fun, and I loved it; thankfully, Noah did too! Eli said he hated it; go figure. After that, I took them on one of my all-time favorite rides--The Scrambler. When I was a kid (probably 8?) I was terrified to go on ANY of the rides, but my mom forced me to go on The Scrambler. She said she knew I would love it. I cried the whole time we were in line for it, and I really didn't want to do it. The verdict? I loved it! So I wanted to make my kids go on it, too. And, as I knew they would, they both loved it.

After that, it was already around 3:00, and we hadn't even eaten lunch yet. We walked to the car, where we had a cooler with sandwiches. (We managed to avoid all of the food/drinks at the park, which was nice). After we ate, we noticed the sky was getting cloudy. Jerry dramatically announced that it was going to storm, and all the rides would get shut down. I teased him for being too dramatic. Then we all went on the Pirate Ship ride (as lame as some people think it is, I actually really like it). The kids didn't like it.

Noah wanted to go on The Iron Dragon again, but Eli didn't; so I told Jerry he could take Noah, and I would take Eli on The Scrambler and The Matterhorn. While we were in line for The Scrambler, it started raining. First a few sprinkles, then pretty hard. Jerry and Eli showed up, saying that the roller coasters were closed because of the storm (it was lightening and thundering by that point). We all rode The Scrambler in the pouring rain.

Then we went to The Matterhorn, which is under a tent. We waited in line for about 15 minutes, just at the edge of the tent, watching the rain:


A few minutes after I took this pic, it was announced that the ride was closing. After that, ALL of the rides were closed! We were completely drenched, so there was no point in trying to avoid the rain. What happened next was like it was out of a movie.

We made the decision to leave the park and go to the hotel (we were pretty much done anyway). To have some fun, we started running through the rain, which was a total downpour; I can't even describe how hard it was raining! The water at our feet was getting deeper and deeper, and soon, it was up PAST my ankles. At some points, it went up to the middle of my calf. The entire park was like a big lake!

We kept running toward the parking lot, and laughing in the rain. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Once we got in the parking lot, the water was even deeper--up to the middle of cars' tires. I couldn't keep my eyes open as we waded through the water. By the time we got to the car, it was much shallower (about halfway up my shoe), but we were all 100% drenched. I was worried about the seats of the car getting so wet, but we didn't really have a choice.

I was bummed because I'd only brought one pair of shoes with me (the ones I was wearing, and they were a retired pair of running shoes--very absorbent). Thankfully, Jerry and I had our phones in plastic baggies, because we'd planned to go on a couple of water rides. The phones were okay. I wish I'd been able to take pictures of the flooding, but I didn't want to ruin my phone, obviously.

We made it to the hotel, and my feet were squishing all the way to our room. We ordered pizza in the room, because we didn't have dry shoes to go out! There was a local place that had a pulled pork pizza, and it was SO good. I should have taken pictures, but I was starving. The kids swam in the pool for a while, and Jerry and I had a relaxing evening. It was a good day!

I'm glad we took the kids to Cedar Point, but I don't think I'd take them again until they are old enough to enjoy the rides. They were scared of most of them. I really wanted to ride my favorite roller coaster while we were there (The Raptor), but we all stuck together. Jerry and I are talking about going to back (just the two of us) in the fall, so we can ride more stuff. But I'm really proud of the kids for trying a few rides that they were scared of. It was a fun day, even with the rain!

10 comments:

  1. Cedar Point was actually where I rode some of my first roller coasters, but I was 15! Sorry that you got rained on. That'll make it even more memorable though :)

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  2. So fun! You inspired me to go to my local six flags this weekend!

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  3. I loved Cedar Point as a kid!! Planning on going this fall :)

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  4. Did you ride the Blue Streak? When I was a teenager, the Blue Streak was one of the biggest, fastest roller coasters in the country. I hadn't been to Cedar Point in many many years when I went with my son's high school physics class on high school physics day. (it's before the park officially opens for the season and it's only high school physics classes from all over) The kids had to do their work but the parent chaperones could do anything they wanted! I rode the Blue Streak and it was nothing compared to the roller coasters of today! I can't believe we thought it was so scary back then! That was the year the Millennium Force was new and I rode it several times with no waiting!
    The rides like the Himalaya do hurt like crazy if you are on the outside!

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  5. Glad you guys had fun! It's all my son has talked about since we went in June. He was just tall enough to ride the biggest rides, but there were a lot our 6 year old couldn't ride. We plan on going back in a few years when she can ride everything.

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  6. Sounds like you guys had a great trip! The Iron Dragon was my favorite CP coaster :)

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  7. So jealous. I love roller coasters and Cedar Point is at the top of my list! I really hate rides like the Octopus or the Scrambler... they make me motion sick like I want to puke. I can't handle county fairs because all the rides there are this type of "truckable" ride... I like the big stuff! I'd ride the biggest, fastest roller coaster before I'd ride the Scrambler. :P

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  8. optical illusion? You ARE tiny:) glad yall had fun!

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  9. Thank you for posting this! Getting back into theme parks is definitely something I plan on doing when I lose enough weight! I will come back to this post often to remind myself how much FUN that it!

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  10. Hi! I'm a new reader! :)

    I went to Cedar Point for the first time this summer with my in-laws. I hadn't been on a roller coaster in about 5 years so I was nervous, so my sister in law took me on the Iron Giant first which I LOVED. It ended up being my favorite ride of the day! I loved both of the water rides, also!

    The midwest has such crazy weather, doesn't it?! I'm an Arizona native so midwestern storms mystify me!

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