Episode 290 - Get To The Point!!

We finally made it to Cedar Point (after five years) so let's discuss the day, and of course, the coasters

Transcript

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Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to the 125 Roller Coaster Challenge, the Trend and Staple Podcast, people. And after the last episode on The Fallen, we needed to bring the energy level back up here. We needed to have some fun. We needed to have some excitement. We needed to get our butts to America's Roller Coast. This is Get to the Point. And of course, get to the Point means we finally got to Cedar Point, people. We got to spend two days at America's Roller Coast. We got to ride some of the best roller coasters in the world. We got to eat some of the uh food. We'll go with food. And we got to experience Cedar Point. And this episode is going to tell you everything that we did on our trip to Cedar Point there. But before we get started, guys, you know the drill here. If you have yet to like and subscribe to the channel, the YouTube channel, make sure you do it. We're on our way to 10,000 subscribers. We want you to be part of it. We are dropping these podcasts left and right, different random times. So if you don't want to miss an episode, make sure you follow us wherever you're getting your podcasts. Apple Podcasts over on Spotify, Audible, Puzz Uh BuzzFeed, Buzz Sprout, whatever these buzzes are, go and follow us because you don't want to miss an episode. This summer we are doing 50 different parks. Uh Cedar Point was number 10. Nice round number there, right? We're already at 12 at this point of recording this. So if you like what we do, make sure you like and subscribe. And without further ado, we're going to the point. Now, I was looking at my schedule. And I'm a bartender. I'm a bartender. I'm a wedding photographer. I am a lot of different things here. And because of that, my schedule kind of gets hectic. But for some reason, I had a Wednesday, Thursday off. I don't believe it. I had a Wednesday, Thursday off. Back to back. Now, since then, I've adjusted my schedule. I do have Tuesday, Wednesdays off now. But back then, I saw that little window and I was like, what am I going to do? And I started going online. I kept looking, oh, I can go, uh, maybe I'll go down the bush gardens. Oh, maybe I'll go here, maybe I'll go here. And then, thank you, Six Flags app. I noticed that Dorney wasn't open, Kennywood wasn't open, but you know who was open? Cedar Point. I have not been to Cedar Point since we started this YouTube channel. So we had no videos ever of Cedar Point. I've been there before, I've gotten most of the credits, but there was three, uh, maybe four, that I needed um to still get. So I uh went online, went over to my Holiday and Express. Love the Holiday Express. Uh, we always go to Holiday Express because you get a pool usually and you get a free breakfast. But this one is right off the peninsula. It is two miles away from the front gate. So we set it up there. Price was right, baby. Membership has privileges, and we booked it. And we head out to Cedar Point. And the first thing about this trip to Cedar Point is it's a long trip. It's over six and a half hours for me to go to where I'm living right now to Cedar Point. But you know what? I would take that trip every time over Kings Dominion or Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. And you want to know why? Because I don't have to go through DC. I got on Route 80 and I just went. And I just went. I drove. I locked in at 7580s, uh, whatever, the appropriate speed limit, and just went. And I live about an hour because I go by Cenobles to get on to 80, and it was an easy trip. And I got up at 3 o'clock in the morning on the road by 3.30. I was there for rope drop at 10 o'clock. Can you believe it? I was actually there at rope drop. I hate rope drop, but because of the diamond lead VIP, got to walk right on in there. Now I get there, looking at the thing, got a good line, went over to guest services, because another thing that is new for this year that I have been loving is the Diamond League VIP gets me four. Counting people, four front of the line passes. That is a necessity at a park like Cedar Point. And it's funny because when I went in there, um, they were like, I told them I get four front of the line passes. The girl looked at me and all that, and went in back and got them. At the end of the day, I went back there because I had one extra and I was like, hey, do these carry over? And uh the manager came up and was like, Where do you see that you get four front of the line passes? Because we only know about two. And I was like, let me show you. Went on their app, went over to the different passes, scrolled over to the right. Diamond Lee VIP, scrolled down, four front of the line passes every visit. I'll see you tomorrow, sir, for my other four. Boom, drop mic, walk out, loved it. But got four of the front front line passes, and I haven't been there, so I had to film everything. So, what did I do? I did the roller skate rule. I got those credits first, people, because I'm not gonna break the rules anymore. So when I got there, I had three coasters I had to get on. The first one, I ran right over to the wild mouse, mainly because I know the wild mouse has low capacity, and I didn't want to waste the front of line pass on a wild mouse. And uh it's over in the new boardwalk section, over to the right-hand side, right near Gatekeeper. Uh, they got the uh the old um uh pavilion area there that it turned into a nice restaurant. The giant just aim for the giant wheel. And uh Wild Mouse, well themed, very well themed. Uh, it's a spinning mouse, and unlike most, like I'm used to like the Raging Cajuns or whatever it's gonna be called over at Great Adventure, uh, where you go through it, you know, the switchbacks, and then the second half it starts spinning. No, no, no. Here at Cedar Point, this bad boy is spinning as soon as you get to the top. So that was a fun little ride, enjoyed it. Second one I had to get on, used the front of the line pass on this one, walked right on Siren's Curse. Siren's Curse is the first ever tilt coaster in the United States. And for me, I thought, okay, it's a gimmick. You know, not going to really enjoy it, but yeah, it's like a dive coaster, okay, yeah, you know, woo and all that stuff. So I go up the lift hill and I love the sound effects. I love how they have the speakers right there in the in the um uh what's that called? They have it right there in the uh in the car right by where your head goes. And the tilt, I'll be honest with you, man, I can feel the weight on my chest as I'm looking vertically down. And I love the fact that you don't just drop straight down, you drop a little bit and then you sharply turn. And the one thing about Siren's curse, not gonna lie to you here, amazing airtime, very good coaster. Later on, I'm gonna tell you how I rank the coasters now. Um, my god, uh that one is definitely in the top, one of the top ones there. And then the third one I had to get is one that I hated using the front of the line pass for, but I needed to. Top thrill two. And going into it, I was like, all right, it's gonna be another Kingdom Card, it's gonna be another top thrill and stuff like that. Yeah, the vertical spike is no different than you know, going on possessed or any other one, right? I was kind of wrong. Um, I really enjoyed top thrill. I uh the launch forward there, you know, 74 miles an hour, it feels like you're going 50. You know, it doesn't feel that good. But that backward launch at 101 miles an hour up that spike and just hanging there for a second, yeah, it's not a hold break, but you kind of hang there, you know, as you get gain the momentum to go forward. That was epic. And then, of course, you know, you had the uh top hat with the twist, which is always good. Is it the top coaster in the park? God no, not even close. But it definitely warranted uh that ride and maybe even a second ride sometime on that end. So got those three credits, knocked it out. So, what am I going to do now? Go all the way back to the front of the park there, and I did a full park walkthrough. I went through the entire park. I went on the right-hand side. So, because um, you know, after you get by the uh sky ride where it lands, you got the diner, and then you can go to your right or to your left. I went to the right, uh, showed the top thrill area, and then went around there. But that took over an hour. It it is a big park, people. Um, not as long as I think Magic Mountain is still my top uh length of a uh a video, but definitely serious points, top top five there and stuff like that. Uh, and really enjoyed that. And then from there, the rest of the day, I basically did shorts, uh, rode the coasters because I figured I needed all the coasters for the 125 roller coaster challenge for this year. So I did that, and I'm gonna talk about all the coasters, and then um I did an R Park day because I haven't been there, so basically letting people know where I where I was. So let's talk about the coasters. We'll start from the front all the way to the back. So on the right hand side, did not get gatekeeper that first day. We did get gatekeeper later, but that first day did not get gatekeeper. Wild mouse, I already assessed. As we're going down that way, we got corkscrew. Corkscrew at this point, there. Everybody keeps talking about we need to get rid of Gemini because of the space it takes and it's an old ride. I'm the opposite. Uh Corkscrew, it did not, it wasn't as bad as it was in the past. It might be because it's early in the season. I know before it was a headbanger. Uh, this time it wasn't a headbanger, but it it seen its day. I mean, I know last year they did t-shirts for it, 50 years old and all that stuff there, but I the only reason I think to keep it is because you still have that iconic corkscrew over the midway as you go to Top Throw Dragster. Um, but on all, like I said, that's the one. If you you put a gun to my head and said you have to get rid of one roller coaster, the only negative is if you get rid of it, you're not really saving space because it is a very tight layout where it doesn't take up uh too much of a footprint on the park. But that would be the one I get rid of. Uh top thrill, I told you, enjoyed a lot more than I thought. Next one down the line is Gemini. Now, Gemini was only running one train, the red train. Um, I think the red train and the blue train stay on their track, but it was the um the track when you're in the station, the one over on your left was running, and it was running smooth, it was butter smooth. The only janky part on Gemini was the helix at the end, it kind of jolted you into the helix. But all in all, man, it's running great. And when when you have a ride like that that's running that good, now I don't know if there's a problem with the other track, but um, it was running really good. And I would say, why would you get rid of something that's running that good? Um, so yeah, Gemini, you know, if you're talking about expectations, um, meeting them, corkscrew was better, but it's kind of like being the sexiest guy in the burn unit. Um, Gemini was running a lot better than I thought it was gonna run, especially with the way people keep saying they gotta get rid of it. I was very happy with Gemini. Uh next one was Cedar uh Creek Mine Train. That one opened up later in the day. So originally I thought it was going to be closed. Uh, there was two closed coasters, and I'll talk about those at the end. Um, and they were closed both days, and we'll talk about okay, is it just they didn't open them yet because it is early in the season? We went on the Wednesday, Thursday after it opened that Saturday. So still early in the season, or is there a problem on that end? But went on to your creek mind train. Um, you know, only rode it once, only really needed to ride it once. Uh on all on that end, um, you know, it's a good mind train. Uh, pretty standard, wasn't too brutal. You know, the it was definitely jankier than Gemini, but on all, not a bad uh experience on that end. Uh, we did go into so after we did the explorers, what we do then is we always take out the kids' sections because I don't want a parent to have to watch an hour, hour and a half video just to see the kid sections. So we actually separated out the kids' sections. We did um they have Kingdom, Kit uh Kitty Kingdom uh over in the front there. Walk through that quick. Then we did the Plant Snoopy, which was closed until this upcoming weekend. Oh, well, Memorial Day weekend. Um, but we we walked through that, showed you that. Then we went into Camp Snoopy. Now, with Camp Snoopy, there's actually two roller coasters there. Now, first one we went on was while uh Woodstock Express, which is a name that the Cedar Fair chain uses a million times, but they're usually wooden PTC classic small-scale wooden coasters. This one is actually a pretty intense um family coaster. So I enjoyed that. But here's a little story to go with that. So I'm getting ready to go in line uh for Woodstock Express, and there's a little kid standing there right in that line. And I'm like, uh the attendant looks at me and goes, Oh, are you here for him? I'm like, uh nope, no kids, right? Um, but then as I got closer, the mom was like, Do you mind riding with him so he doesn't have to stand there by himself? I can only ride with one. And I was like, sure, yeah, I will ride with your kid. I I need I was going to ride it anyway. So I get in there, but then I started thinking, there is a coaster at Cedar Point that you can only ride if you have a kid, or if it's a special event, they're opening up for for coaster nerds like me to get the credit. It's called Wilderness Run. And when I was doing the walkthrough, I went to the attendant, hey, uh, just check in. You know, can adults ride? No, not only with the kid. I'm like, oh, okay, blah, blah, blah. So I came up with a brilliant idea. Hey, does your little guy want to ride Wilderness Run after this? Oh, we've done it already. But yeah, do you want to ride it? I'm like, I kind of need a kid to ride it. So did she, the mom was like, yeah, let's do it. And the kid loved it. You know, I was goofing around with him. I'm about to, well, actually, at the time you're recording this, I might be a grandfather. So I love the small kid, especially when you can give them back at the end of the day, right? Hey, hi, give them sugar, get them all psyched up, go. But um, so I did uh Woodstock Express, enjoyed it. And then, remember earlier I said I need to get three credits, maybe four. I got Wilderness Run people. My 404th roller coaster is the elusive Wilderness Run. And why is it elusive? Well, because my kids are 26 and 23. So I didn't have a kid, and Sebastian, not even a month. So there's gonna be a five-year, six-year gap before I even had a chance. So, shout out to the family. I'm not gonna mention their names because, you know, privacy and all that, but thank you for me helping you out and then you helping me out. So I got Wilderness run, guys. Oh, how's the coaster? Oh, boring as hell, but it is a coaster credit. So, all right, so we talked about Cedar Creek Mine Train. We're in the back of the park, guys. We gotta talk about the the one-two punch back there. Maverick and Steve, steel vengeance. So let's talk about Steel Vengeance. So, Steel Vengeance is a lot of people's number one coaster, has always been, and stuff like that. And it was mine for in 2018, 2019, around then. But because I haven't been back to Cedar Point in such a long time, the memory fades. Other coasters jump it. Tatsu jumps it, and then you've got uh Pantheon and all that. So going into it, I was like, okay, let's go enjoy Steve. Now, I was going back and forth in the park, so I didn't get to ride this until like four or five o'clock. I used to front of the line pass, of course, and same with Maverick. But here's the thing the um it was got cold. The temperature dropped, it was only in the mid-50s, and it dropped down to the mid-40s. So I actually had to ride the second day. So I'm gonna give you my assessment on the second day when it was 70 degrees, 70, 75. Um, still great, still great. Um, I didn't really know the the uh layout as well the first time, so I got jostled a little bit because you know I'm used to TT and Wildcat's Revenge. You kind of know shift my weight this way, shift my weight that way, almost like you're body surfing. Um but all in all, fantastic. Uh Steve is definitely there, but it didn't do the oh my god factor like Iron Quasi does. So comparing those two, Iron Quasi is still above Steve. Now, where does Steve rank? We're gonna find that out at the end of the year because I got some new coasters coming in, but I will tell you how it ranks uh in Cedar Point. The one thing I did like about Steve was when I got off it, I was good. I had the relief band on, but I was good. After that, we jumped on Maverick. Wow. Maverick is just intense. I always call it Intamin's uh greatest hits album because it's got the vertical, uh the launch up the lift here, it's got the vertical drop, it's got the mid-course uh drop, it's got those quick um Pantherian uh turns left and right. It is just an intense, crazy ride. And when Maverick stopped, I was woozy, even with the relief band. It was crazy how nuts this ride was. Um fantastic. It just really knocked my socks off. So Maverick, Steve, did a great job. All right, now we're wrapping back around, going back through the Frontier Trail, where we actually did a spotlight on the Frontier Trail because I always think it's so unique that uh a big park built like Cedar Point still has that western feel, western section. They kept that theming good. But when you come out of that, you go right over to Millennium Force. Now, here's I'll tell you my Millennium Force story. So after Maverick that first day, it was cold. Yeah, it was cold. I was I had a sweatshirt on and I was still getting wind chilled. So I looked at Millennium Force, I'm like, I'll do it tomorrow. Just like Gatekeeper, I'll do it tomorrow. I have to do it tomorrow. So the next day comes, and I knock out Gatekeeper right away. And we'll talk about Gatekeeper at the end of this, but we knocked it out right away. And then I go to Millennium Force, I'm in line. The the final line pass didn't matter because where the front of the line pass met on both times I tried to get on it, it was the line was B where the cutoff was, it didn't matter. I get up to the station, I'm like three trains away, boom, it shuts down. I'm like, son of a gun. And then that it comes on the speaker, it may be a while. And I'm like, okay, I got other stuff I want to do the second day. I'll tell you what video I was doing, but so I jumped, jump off. Come back later on, right before I'm about to leave, because I'm only doing a half day the second day. I have to get on the road by three o'clock to get home by 10 because I have to work the next day. And I get in line and on the next train to go in, and it breaks down so bad that they had to evacuate the train in front of me, put the people back in front of the line, and I'm like, I gotta go. I'd rather jump on Siren's Curse again. So I never got on Millennium Force, guys. Never got on Millennium Force. It was supposed to be the 24th coaster of the year, it is not the 24th coaster of the year. But going down that path, next one up is Rougarou. There was two rides that were not open those two days I was there, and one of them was Rougarou, and I'm actually sitting here right now as I record this in my Rougarou shirt because they only had three Rougarou shirts left. And they're both double XL, so this is what I sleep in. Uh but I've always loved Rougarou. And my fear is because it is nestled between so many different rides, that maybe Rougarou isn't going to be part of Cedar Point much longer. What do you know? Think about it. Let me know in the comment section here. But um, it wasn't open open while everything else around it was. Uh doesn't even look like they were doing anything. It was the trains were sitting on the track. So if Rougarou is going, let me know. And it might just be a bad deal. And if I do go back to Cedar Point this year, I will definitely jump on Rougarou. The second one that was not open was Magnum XL 200. Um, and this one is like I said, it is the first, it's a historic coaster. It's a um Morgan uh arrow/slash Morgan uh 200 foot one that shoots out by the water park. Um, both of those were down, both of those were closed. I don't know if they opened up for the year at the time. Yet again, if they're open now, please let me know. But those are the other two. So if I go back this year, I still need to get Rougarou, Millennium Force, and Magnum XL. The next one in line was Iron Dragon. This is a classic suspension coaster. I mean, it's so mellow that you can put your bag in the train. They don't worry about it coming out, which is uh something you never see. You know, usually there's bins or lockers. Um, but that was um, you know, that's where you put your bin and stuff like that. Um yeah, it's standard, it does good, it goes over the water. It's a great little ride, it's a great family ride. Love that. Next is Siren's Curse. Love Siren's Curse. Siren's Curse, we're going to talk about in a few minutes. After that is probably the coaster that gets the least love at Cedar Point, and that's Valraven. It is their dive coaster. It's not award-winning, believe it or not. Not all, you know, Yukon Strikers bigger in the chain. And then, of course, now you got the uh the one over Six Flags over Texas. But I don't know why there's so much hate for Valraven. It I love the view when you're I Griffin's still my number one dive coaster, but my god, the view of the parking lot, the brewery parking lot is just so sad when you know that if they turned it, you'd have a better view of the the the um the river, the James River. But you know what? They have that with Valraven. You look out over the bay, uh, over the um the lake. You get beautiful views of the lake over by breakers and stuff. So, and the all the elements. It's hit. I don't know why there's so much hate for Valor even. I really do not know. The next two is one of them was Blue Streak. Now, this is the classic PTC wooden coaster, the only wooden coaster in the entire park. If you're going to get rid of Rugaroo, that would be where I would put a wooden coaster, a GCI or a gravity group right there. But with that being said, it was janky. It was uh there it was making, it wasn't rough, but it was making some noises that made me think, you know what? This one's not uh you know, it's not like the blue streak at Cognac Lake Park where I thought it was going to fall down, but it definitely was uh making some noises. After that, you got Raptor. Now, Raptor historically is always it's a BM invert, it's one of the bigger ones, but it's not like a record breaking. Um, but I used to never give it much love. I actually recently did a uh reverted invert uh talking about inverted coasters, and it was low on the list. It was like number seven, number eight. Uh that was wrong. That was wrong. This thing is fantastic. It was flying, it was going every direction, it was a lot of fun. It was a blast. Um, Raven definitely moved up my list. And then let's talk about Gatekeeper because the second day I did grab Gatekeeper. Um, I got in my seat in the back row. That overwing drop is one of my favorite elements ever on a coaster. It's number two behind a barrel roll drop. And I just love everything about gatekeeper. So, how do my top five stack up? Because you know, this is one, two, five roller coaster challenge, so let's talk about the coasters. Number five is Maverick. Maverick is really intense, it is an amazing coaster. But I wobble when I get off that thing. Um, you know, the enjoyment is kind of subdued when you're worried about being able to stand. Uh, but the intensity level is fantastic. It just knocks my socks off. And wow, it it is great. Number five on this list is still top on any other list. So, you know, uh for parks. Number four is gatekeeper. That overwing drop is just so amazing that it it it basically has to be um one of the top top rides here. It just really knocked my socks off on that front. And you know, the key holes are great, the whole thing flows. Um, there's not a bad part. The brake brake run uh the uh trim brakes weren't working on any of the rides. We got no trimmed. So number four is gatekeeper, it holds a solid spot in my heart. Number three, this one, this one definitely um threw me for a loop that it's this high. But I'm going by on this trip and how the ride was, and it's Raptor. Raptor is number three because every element just hit perfect, every transition, even the Cobra Roll. Uh not Cobra Roll, yeah, Cobra Roll was fantastic. Rave uh Raptor just shot way up my list there. Now, is it gonna be a top 50 coaster? Maybe, maybe not, but I'm going by these this trip and this uh the the rides I had. I only had one ride on Raptor, but it was such a great ride. Um yeah, it came number three. Number two, Steve, still Vengeance is top 20 coaster, top 15 coaster, probably, but it's only number two here. And it was a great ride, don't get me wrong. Transitions, the airtime's uh unmatched, but number one, I went in with such low expectations that the fact that I wrote it three times, I have a hat, I have a t-shirt, I have socks, sirens curse. I put it above Steve. And it's not just the gimmick part, you know, yeah, go up the lift hill. I love the fact that you got the sound in your ears, and you know, uh, we will lead you to your doom. You know, I love that before I let you go. But the weight on my chest, I love that. Because usually, you know, even with a dive coaster, you kind of hang there, but you don't really get that weight on your chest like you're falling out. Um, but once it releases, holy cow! The quick transitions, the pop of airtime going into another turn and another pop of air time and twisting and left thing. The first ride I got left me breathless. The second ride made me smile, and the third ride, I was like, I like it better. I got two on Steve, I got three on Siren's Curse, and I could not believe how much I loved it. Siren's Curse is the queen of Cedar Point. I slow clap, I could not believe it. And let me know in the comment section how idiotic I am. Um, but let's talk about the other trips. That day I stopped at the barbecue place, which is over by Gemini, and to be honest with you, wasn't really, really thrilled with it. I was surprised how much, how little I liked that barbecue. Uh, so much so that the next day I did not eat there. So the second day I woke up, got there, rope drop, got my four front of line passes, five because I have it there, and I was like, you know what? Let's do a video. I never do. I never do channels accept it. I had five hours. I was only there for five hours. How many rides, how many coasters could I get on in those five hours? Now I did film two um spotlights, uh, one on the boardwalk and one on Frontier Trail. But that video is going to be a members-only video. So for $1.99, you can become a member and you can see the video. But that's what I filmed that second day was how many uh how many rides can I get on there? And believe it or not, it was a lot, but it also helps out that I had that front of the line pass. Uh, but even with the front of the line pass, some of these lines were still 25, 30 minutes. It was crazy. Uh, and I did waste time trying to get a Millennium Force twice. Um, but all in all, um afterwards I bought tons of merchandise because the Diamond Elite VIP, you get 50 to 70% off merchandise. Fantastic. Uh bought uh Cedar Point uh Point shirt, bought um you know a lot of Sirens Curse stuff, and bought this Rougarou shirt for five bucks because I don't know if Rougarou's gonna be around much longer. But let me know what you think about Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast. Um, I give you my top five there. You know, should Maverick be higher? Should um Iron Dragon be on it? Should Wilderness Run be a top five? Let me know in the comment section, guys. And once again, I can't wait to see you in the queue in 2020.