Cedar Point -- Sandusky, Ohio

Cedar Point has been ranked the top amusement park for the last 11 years by "Amusement Today". It was Brian's top "must see" destination for the trip, and it didn't disappoint -- we had an insanely fun day! The Park sits on an peninsula jutting out into Lake Erie. It was a beautiful late summer day, with temperatures in the mid 80s and moderate humidity. I purchased our tickets the night before on-line, opting for the four pack so Teressa could get in essentially for free. We arrived around 9:45, fifteen minutes before the park opened, and waited in line for a few minutes. The kids wanted to start with some smaller coasters to get warmed up, so we headed for Blue Streak. It probably wasn’t the best strategy.

Blue Streak is a classic wooden roller coaster, not too intense, but delivering the classic bumpy ride characteristic of wooden coasters. By the time we were done on Blue Streak, the lines were already starting to get long on some of the bigger attractions. We headed for Raptor, an inverted coaster where the cars hang below the track and your feet dangle down. It completely flips you upside down five different times during the ride – the day was heating up! We spent the next nine hours riding some of the biggest and fastest roller coasters on the planet.

The Top Thrill Dragster is currently the second tallest (over 400 feet) and second fastest (120 mph) roller coaster in the world. It uses a hydraulic launch to accelerate the cars from zero to 120 in four seconds. From there the track turns 90 degrees straight up into the sky to a height of 420 feet before turning 180 degrees and heading straight towards the ground. Another 90 degree turn and magnetic breaks bring you back to the station, 17 short seconds after the you left. It all happens so fast, it wasn’t our favorite ride of the day (especially after the 45 minute wait in line). Laura did comment after the ride, “If I can do that, I can do anything!” Sounds like a good life lesson to me.

Laura was getting overheated just before lunch, so she talked Brian and me into going on the Snake River Falls log ride with her. We got completely soaked, but it felt great. With the warm weather, there were many scantily clad young bodies in the park. Brian remarked, “Beautiful girls and roller coasters – this is the best day of my life!”.

Millenium Force is the other giga-coaster in the park. Its blue track dominates the landscape as it rises to over 300 feet and runs for over a mile around the park. Millenium Force is a traditional steel roller coaster, starting with a slow climb up the 300 foot hill, plunging down an 80 degree slope at 90 miles per hour, and then taking you through a series of twists and turns before returning to the station 90 seconds later. This was our favorite ride in the park, and we did it three times. After the last run I asked Brian if he had fun. He replied “That was great dad, I only blacked out twice!”.

We even managed to get Teressa on one of the milder roller coasters just before we left. She wasn’t crazy about it, but liked being with the family all day. Overall it was a fantastic day.