Where We Be
The crazy ride shown above is Top Thrill Dragster. It launches you at fantastic speeds up
a 90-degree incline before sending you plummeting back down in a stomach-churning drop.
Cedar Point Amusement Park, Ohio
Cedar Point bills itself as "the Rollercoaster
Capital of the World" and we'd have to say it
lives up to that billing. We spent two awesome
days here, with the goal of doing every Level 4
(High Thrills) and Level 5 (Aggressive Thrills)
ride in the park. We succeeded, doing 16 rides
the first day and 15 the second for a total of 31
rides (including a few redo's.) For one park to
have so many thrill rides is pretty amazing.

Tops on the scary list is Top Thrill Dragster. It
shoots you off at almost unbelievable speeds --
120 mph in 3.8 seconds -- before sending you
420 feet straight up then plunging back down.
It's the second tallest rollercoaster in the world
and is visually terrifying. Our other favorites:
  • Millenium Force -- voted #1 steel roller-  
    coaster ten times in Amusement Today
  • Valravn -- the tallest, fastest, longest
    "dive coaster" in the world
  • Maverick -- steepest rollercoaster in the
    park with an inverted 95 degree angle
  • Wicked Twister -- accelerator coaster that
    goes forward / backward up vertical spires
  • GateKeeper - winged coaster with cork-
    screws and highest inversion in the world
  • maXair. Scariest non-coaster in the park, a
    spinning roulette wheel on a pendulum
We came to Cedar Point on a Thursday and Friday in late August. Many
students had already returned to school so the park wasn't too crowded.
By staying at a park property (Cedar Point's Express Hotel, 5 minutes from the entrance),
we gained early bird access to the park -- one hour earlier than general admission
Early bird admission gave us one hour each morning to hit some of the biggest rides
before the lines got too long. The rollercoaster shown above is called GateKeeper.
We hope this park map proves helpful
in planning your own escape from reality
Cedar Point is surprisingly big -- you'll definitely get your
walking in as you explore different parts of the park
We thought this was the scariest non-rollercoaster in the park:
maXair. It's like a spinning roulette wheel on a pendulum
Our very first ride was Valravn, the tallest, fastest, longest "dive coaster" in the world.
It holds you over a 90-degree drop before releasing you for a free fall experience.
Taking a moment to pause with Snoopy in a less adventurous part of the park
Just right of the ferris wheel is Wicked Twister, an accelerator rollercoaster that corkscrews you both forwards
and backwards up vertical spires at either end. You can see a car at the top of one of the spires in this picture.
People wait nervously for their turn to ride Top Thrill Dragster.
Once you launch the whole ride only takes about 20 seconds!
Gemini runs twin cars on parallel tracks (thus the name). We
enjoyed watching people's reactions as they finished their rides.
This one is called Corkscrew. We loved how you could walk
right underneath it and hear people screaming overhead.
Raptor was one of the last "Level 5" rides we did -- a steel inverted rollercoaster with the track
above you. Fun but intense! We waited in line 40 minutes for this one -- our longest wait.
Mentally prepare yourself for food prices -- we spent
$16 at Panda Express for a shared meal with water
We were surprised to find Zoltar (from the movie "Big")
Millennium Force is among the tallest and fastest rollercoasters in the world. It doesn't hold any one record
but has been voted #1 steel rollercoaster ten times. Probably our favorite ride in the park!  [Not my photo]
WindSeeker is like a giant flying swing ride
but elevated 300 feet over the ground