<< June 25, 2007 >>
the roller coaster capital of the universe. also weird milkshakes.
long-time readers may recall a certain entry from 2000. that infamous day has finally been avenged.
phil picked me up this morning, and we had a mostly eventless drive over to cedar point (wow, their slogan really is "the roller coaster capital of the world"). the highlight was riding next to a NS train for a few minutes.
we arrived at the stroke of 10 am, and recalling my years of doing disney as a child, i suggested we head for the back of the park. we made it about half way before we happened up a virtually line-less mantis. we rode it three times before a nearly five-minute wait forced us to move on to the mean streak. that area in the lower right is for queueing; note that it's empty.
we continued through the park, finally giving in a riding a couple with long lines so we could get them out of the way. my only regret was disaster transport; never again shall i ride it. i think phil might regret ordering a milkshake for lunch: they do it up right by topping it off with another four or five ounces of whipped cream. another moment in my life i wish we did our own webcomic.
with our coaster total hitting about 25 trips already, we decided to determine the age old question: which is the best seat for riding the magnum? a serious scientific query of this nature required a serious investigation, and we committed ourselves to the arduous task of riding in every row (all 18 of them!) before closing.
we had it down to an art form: before the loading area, the train stops for a minute until the next train is on its way. this is a great time to release your seatbelt, so that when the bar comes up you can jump out and lead everyone out and around to get on the next trip asap. it was a beautiful thing to witness.
unfortunately, it was about 9:59 and we had two rows left, so we decided to skip the 2nd last row and go in the waaaay back for our last trip of the night. and wouldn't you know it, my worst fear was finally realized: the train stopped on the way up.
fortunately riding 41 rollercoasters in one day is an excellent cure for acrophobia, and so i could sit back and enjoy an extra minute or two on the coaster. in the dark.
the verdict? the first row in the last car is definitely the way to go.
we found that the first row in any car had a really smooth ride, while the last row was really rough and would send you bouncing around a lot. this is pretty fun usually, when you have to wait 45+ minutes for each ride. but, when riding every five or ten minutes, your thighs will become all shades of blues and purples.
anyway, at $0.81 per ride (40% of the cost of riding the T!), it was certainly a decent value, too. although i guess technically i should count airfare to get back to ohio...