2024 Summer Trip - A visit to Cedar Point - 2024/07/22

Ask anyone what the roller coaster capital of the world is and you'll get one consistent answer. Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio! 

We've got a full party heading there today! Donald and Amy have season passes. Earlier this summer, a few of us donated blood at a church blood drive and received free tickets to come today. So on a Monday in July, we all piled in the van and drove the 2 hours from Southern Michigan to Northern Ohio. 

Here we are! 

The forecast is threatening rain today and as we got out of the van, it was a little drizzly. Thank you Amy and Donald for bringing ponchos for everyone. 

Ooh. Just look at that skyline. So many beautiful coasters waiting for us to ride. 

Our first coaster of the day is called the GateKeeper, appropriate because it's right at the front of the park and even goes over the main gate! You can see passengers going by in the photo that starts off this post. 

The posted wait time was 45 minutes, but we were on in only 30 minutes. Let's hope this kind of luck holds out for the rest of the day! 

That was a great start! I love these types of coasters where the seats can move. 

And everyone is having lots of fun. There's my kids, both with their hands high up in the air. 

And me too. We're all big coaster enthusiasts and love the thrill! 

Donald has a meal plan with his pass and gets to eat every 90 minutes! We stopped at a spot that had chicken strips and fries to begin our day. 

The Windseeker is a 302' tower that not everyone wants to ride. It's really really high. 

And it's the oddest thing, the music they choose to play on here. When I first rode this ride, as soon as we took off, the main music from Harry Potter called Hedwig's Theme started playing. This time, as soon as we started, the main theme from E.T. the Extraterrestrial played. Must be a fan of John Williams' music I guess. 

We soared high into the clouds. No, higher than that. 

There we go. Tiny specs on the sky. Lot's of fun! 

Donald and Amy also have a drink pass, where every 15 minutes you can get a free drink! Icees are included! The kids loved that! Donald kept them stocked up! 

At 3pm, we hopped in line for Millenium Force, at one point, the tallest roller coaster in the world at 308'. 

The line moved very slowly, especially with all those people who paid for "front of the line passes" who get to walk right on. Then as the weather took a turn, the ride came to a complete stop and we didn't move for 15 minutes. 

Literally 2 hours later, we were finally at the front of the line. Whew! 

It's fun, but 2 hours is a really long time. 

Hands up check? Yep, we're all good. 

Even being so tall, it's pretty tame, never even going inverted once. 

We've been spoiled a little bit this summer with the availability of Dippin Dots at Chuck E Cheese. And with our fun pass, we get them for half price at $3.50 for a large cup. These are quite a bit more expensive. Theresa has also been looking for mint chocolate chip, that she remembers from high school, but we haven't found that flavor anywhere yet. 

Another Icee? Don't mind if we do. 

Between the two of them, Ian has shown more of a thrill-seeker attitude compared to Alli. She's been a little nervous and doesn't like rides where you "lose your stomach". She refuses to ride Tower of Terror back home at Disney World. 

This ride, called the Skyhawk was pushing her limit, but she said she'd try it with us. This giant swing goes 102' in the air and rushes you back towards the ground at 65mph! Will she like it? (We're on the far left of the swing)

She did! I was really proud of her for trying something out of her comfort zone. She realized it was mostly nerves and she was able to push through and conquer it! Now she loves it! 

As we got to the back of the park, the Rougarou is a stand-up coaster. 

I remembered it being pretty jerky and a bit of a head-banger against the restraints. I remembered correctly. 

After we finished, checking our app of wait times, we saw that ones of the big coaster that we really wanted to get on and had been down earlier, was just coming back up! We hustled to the line and found ourselves in a queue that was only 15 minutes long! 

Amy delivered us chicken strips and fries during our short wait. 

Thanks Amy! 

Having such good luck with the short line, we opted to wait just a few more minutes so we could be in the very front row of Valravn. This ride has a little something special that is best seen from the front row. 

At the top of the 223' lift hill, right as you get to the drop, your cart hangs over the edge, pausing before being dropped down at a true 90 degree angle! It's a real blast and a whole lot of fun. 

Even though it looks really light outside, it's 8:30pm and the park is going to be closing relatively soon.

Ian went on one ride earlier this summer when Aubrey and Jared brought them to Cedar Point that he said was his favorite. While the rest of the crew waited up front, Abby, the kids and I all headed to the back of the park to experience Steel Vengeance! This former wooden coaster has been redone with a new steel track and new layout. If Ian says it's his favorite, then I'm looking forward to it. 

And after a full day at the park, the battery on my phone finally died. No pictures after this. 

But Steel Vengeance was everything Ian said it would be. It was fast. It had inversions. And with over a mile of track, it was really long for a coaster ride! I loved it! In my opinion, it's the best coaster here too! 

We met back up with the rest of the family and I took the drivers seat for the 2 hour nighttime drive back home, while many ended up sleeping. It was a great day, full of thrills and hanging out with our fun Michigan family!