Great Adventure Outpost
Industry => Trip Reports and Meeting Plans => Topic started by: dkny6363 on December 30, 2010, 02:20:13 PM
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I am considering the idea of missing HWN's this year and going to coaster mania instead. I realize HWN's is probably a much better event all around, but we haven't been to Cedar Point in 3 years and CM sounds like a decent time to return. Also my family is much more steel coaster friendly than wood. Not to mention it's half the drive that it is to HW. Can anyone who's been give me some pro's and con's of CM. Keep in mind I've been to cedar point, been on all the rides(except STR), and have a good idea of what the itinerary of the event usually includes. What are the crowds like... Are the meals real meals, or just snacks... How many ppl attend. Also is the water park worth a bit of xtra money to visit? I've heard it pretty much sucks. But want some oppinions. Thanks
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I'm also planning on CM this coming season. Sadly, I can't answer any of your questions ;).
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You're better of posting this on CoasterBuzz. You'll get all sorts or "expert advice" there.
I've been to a few Coaster Mania's. The crowds were pretty large the three or so times I've gone (before and after Millennium Force and Dragster were built). The night rides on Magnum are awesome usually with the trims turned off and not too long of waits, but the other coasters always had pretty lengthy waits. I don't think it't this bad anymore, but I used to have to wait 20-30 minutes for Raptor during early morning ERT!
The meals were just generic hotdog/hamburger lunches in a picnic shelter.
BEWARE of the Muffleheads! CoasterMania almost always falls right at the peak of the local insect infestation of Muffleheads. They don't bite like mosquitos, but they cover you like you wouldn't believe, especially on coasters at night.
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* The water park is named Soak City for a reason. There are better choices. Many of them, actually.
* Recent CM's have not been all that busy, as HW takes the crowds away.
* The food at the event is lousy...but the speakers often are not.
You can have a good time, or you can not have a good time...a lot depends on you...but DO know that Cedar Point on a Saturday is not a place I want to be...even the Friday nowadays is often crazy busy...the ERT sessions are not all that bad, but the hours the park is open are not good hours to spend in the park unless the weather is really lousy, in which case Cedar Fair, which is NOT Six Flags, will shut down the coasters...
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Any cedar fair park on a friday sucks, I learned that the hard way with both dorney and KD when I visited them previously (KD in 2001 and Dorney back in 09). I can't image what CP looks like on a friday let alone a saturday.
The water park there makes Hurricane Harbor look like Typhoon Lagoon and Wow is right when he says the food is lousy.
I got lucky when I went there in the summer, they knew a thunderstorm was coming and some of the ride ops were kind enough to give you a countdown to when the storm would come (ie the storm is about 15 mins away, try to get to cover now or get your last rides in the park). when it rains ALL the coasters get shut down and some of the roofed attractions stay open (depending on how hard the rain is), if they say something about severe weather expect the whole park to shut down the second the sky turns black or there's thunder.
Shoot The Rapids hopefully will be 100% by the time CM comes around, I think it was only open for a full day once or twice this year and the rest it was just sitting there. I didn't even get the opportunity to even see it test when I went and they only had three boats sitting in the platform.
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Depends on the weekend. Worlds of Fun and Dorney can be very light on the queues even on hot summer Fridays and Saturdays, even in peak season occassionally.
Cedar POINT however is another story. I always hated the Friday crowds during CM and Saturdays? Forget it! The Thursday before CM is great though!
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I remember with summer camp we would always spend the day there on either a tuesday or a thursday, one day there was only 500 people in the park minus employees.
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CRAPPP THATS TWO IN A ROW I MISSED NOWWW!!!
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Wrong Topic, Kingdakafan...
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Has anyone been in the past 2 years for realistic crowd exp?
What are long waits... I find long waits to me are higher than to other ppl. due to wonderland is always packed. I can handle hr waits for good rides, but 2+ is too much for me. How many laps could you get in during a 1 hr ert?
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My last CM was the year Maverick opened.
I seem to recall Dragster being down for ERT, Magnum being down half the night, Millennium Force having near walk-on conditions in the morning (so I heard. I didn't wait for it since the seat belt is such a challenge) and Maverick having about a 30 minute wait.
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You gotta think the crowds are less now than in 2007. No coasters since then... Windseeker as the BIG addition.
My plan if I go is this... Be in the park from early entry, or morning ERT, until 12-1. Leave for a bit then come back until close. I can't handle full days in busy parks, and I find 1-5 the most packed.
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CoasterMania normally begins VERY early, as in about 6 or even 5, depending on the year. And it can go VERY late...I know there have been years when it has been well after 2 a.m. when I left the park. Cedar Point is a destination park...and, as such, doesn't have the same packed hours as other parks...once it gets busy, it normally stays that way, right up til closing. Not always, but usually.
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When will they announce the details... speakers, ert scheduales, and such.
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Probably by the time Eastcoaster and NoCoaster happen in February. They tend to have flyers at those events.
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Never heard of Nocoaster..
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It's ACE's other non-riding event. It's just like Eastcoaster, but held in the Chicago area every winter around the same time as Eastcoaster.
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non-riding event.... Sign me up! ;)
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You gotta think the crowds are less now than in 2007.
Again, I've yet to go to Mania, but from a few people that I know that go every year, they've said that the event has actually gotten more crowded in the last few years. Not sure how HWN being held the same weekend affected it last year, but I know there was a chunk of the community that were at either/or event, so...
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It seems that most people aren't torn between the two either. The majority of the Mania regulards seem to prefer that to HWN and vise versa so neither event's attendance is affected too much. Most of my friends will always choose HWN over Mania and didn't care much for Mania before there was a conflicting event.
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And the few of those friends (lori, Craig, lisa) that prefer Mania still do Mania. It's not a lightly attended event. They moved it to two days for a reason ;).
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There is at least one person here that has been known to attend both events...even last year (well, since that was the first time they were both the same weekend...)...
Wow, who would do such a thing? Who indeed? Wow.
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^Exactly Clint. I couldn't think of an easy way to word it and include the smaller subset of friends that are Mania loyalists. For those that still don't get it...
Even if Coaster Mania and HoliWood Nights were always on different weekends, many (perhaps most) of the enthusiasts that regularly go to one or the other would still only go to one of the two and many of those peeps would pick the same one every year or almost every year. And there are the silly peeps that did half of both in the same weekend. ;)
For those that always picks one over the other, it seems to come down to two things: 1) You're either a wood coaster junkie or a steel coaster junkie. 2) You're one of those people that think Holiday World can do no wrong and that Cedar Point is evil so you go to Holiday World to be with that group of friends over the group that chose Cedar Point. Oh and here's another one... 3) it's much more affordable to take your family to Coaster Mania because it's basically free if you have a season pass (This is why Lori and family go every year).
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I didn't like Cedar point's selection of steel when I went. If i ever get back there th only reason would be for a re-ride on Magnum, MF, TTD and Maverick. So I would probably prefer HWN over Coaster mania. I have yet to enter the state of Indiana and the closest time I could get out there would probably be when I get into college.
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FYI, the HolIWood Nights flyer is up and for the first time ever, I SO WANT THE T-SHIRT!
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I have this delema of being a wood junkie, with a casual coaster fanatics family who prefer steel. Matt the cost is closer thn you`d think. Think of the extra money you`d drop on food at mania. HWN has 2 full out dinners and 1 breakfast, not to mention im park food is half the price at hw.
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I'm just saying what my friend, Lori says every year. She claims it costs a ton more for her family of three to go to HoliWood Nights than it does for them to go to Mania. I don't care about the math. LOL
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As far as food goes, there are tons more off park options that are cheaper at CP than at HW. You can get cheaper hotels too.
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I guess the benefits of staying at a CP resort would go out the window for CM. Due to the fact early entry is the only real benefit. What do hotels run that time of year
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Not sure about the actual prices. And the only real benefit I could see staying on site during CM would be that you're staying on site, and could probably walk to the park. Otherwise, you could save money and stay off point.
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Rob, Chuck, Dan, and I have stayed at a nice Super 8 in Sandusky a few times. I think it was in the $70 a night range and had very comfy beds!
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I stayed at a knight's inn about 1.5 miles away. It was decet but it had a dumpster pool.
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FYI, the HolIWood Nights flyer is up and for the first time ever, I SO WANT THE T-SHIRT!
awesome ! I might sign up for this event.. Plus since I'm an anything park map ticket hoarder, I still have the free passes for the timberliners so I should be able to get in for free!!!
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The timberliners are guaranteed to be run this year, right?
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Yes, the park said they will be ready for opening day.
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awesome ! I might sign up for this event.. Plus since I'm an anything park map ticket hoarder, I still have the free passes for the timberliners so I should be able to get in for free!!!
I believe I read somewhere they are giving a significant discount for 2011 if you still have your free ticket from 2010.
But you have to contact the organizers directly ahead of time to get it.
I usually keep these type of things..but m ticket is no where to be found. :-[
Now back to Coaster Mania talk...
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Speaking of...the CM itinerary is up.
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Too funny.. i've checked everyday for about a month expcept today. lol. Thanks Clint, for the heads up. Well I'm officially going now. I really like the ert changes from last year. At least most of them. Seeing wows nemesis (Dick) in the flesh is tooo much to pass up. Doesn't him being there reak of possible announcement? The ert's... the friday night one is argubly worse. With TTD, and Magnum still on the list. With raptor, and Mantis replaced from last year by (in it's 20th year) MEAN STREAK. As well as skyhawk. Clearly a worse ERT in a sense, but it's an extra hr! Also my fams interest in the 2 bm's would have been large which would cause huge comp for magnum ert time. Now extra Magnum rides are looking up. The following mourning its MF, and Maverick same as last year... but added to that is TCFKAB in it's 15th year. and Cockscrew in its 35th year.. Great ert with a good chance to get the obligated mantis ride out of the way without waiting an hr mid day saturday. I would have prefered Iron Dragon over corkscrew but whatever. On to the night ERT Last year and this year DT, Wicked Twister, Max Air, Blue Streak.. but added to that is RAPTOR! and 1 hr of Windseeker, which doesn't overly interest me but if imgoing to ride it at all it will be in that 1 hr ert. My family self included loves raptor. Also this ert will be 1 hr 45 min. The mourning ert will be from 5:30-8:30. One ride I was surprised not to see this year was STR. I also wish Gemini was in there on friday night with magnum, and dragster. Races with die hards would be a good time. Really looking forward to this trip now. OHH! also Ravine flyer the day before! Makes missing voyage this year slightly bearable. Seee you in 2012 HW. Hopefully you will have either a Lost coaster of superstision mt, or a wooden warrior to offer by then. My two most likely next coasters for them.
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Given what may well happen Tuesday, I would not necessarily count on seeing Mr. Richard Kinzel at that event in June. Nor would I call that gentleman my nemesis...nemesis of the unit holders he tried to sell out for $11.50 a unit while escaping with millions and millions for himself and his general manager son? Yes. Nemesis of the park associates that he tried to claim were not covered by minimum wage laws while taking home more than a million each year? Yes. Nemesis of Q? Yes. But me? I have other fish to fry...and certainly other things to do at that wonderful event than listen to the man who largely built up Cedar Point to what it is today...then stayed too long and got the company head over heels in debt, largely just to get an Eiffel Tower featuring park in Southern Ohio he had always wanted in his dominion.
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I'm not quite sure what you just said but it sounds to me like you're the voice of the people. Maybe an angry mob will drown him in lake erie. ;) Or perhaps force him to ride mean streak 10 times in a row. Not sure what is worse.
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Make him ride Maverick with the zero G roll re-installed. ;)
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I am aware of the 0-g roll but not about how good/bad it was. I always assumed it was cool but too hard on the ride. But it was bad?
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Intamin's official excuse was that it caused excessive stress on the train and structure. But I have it on good authority that it knocked Sandor out cold and he returned to the station unconscious.
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Mean streak will cause a slow and painful demise, while maverick's roll will just knock you out until you head cracks open... yes the roll did knock someone out.
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Funny story... I was 50/50 betweem HWN's, and CM.
Sooo I was going to let my family decide. I was going to put it up to a three person vote and I had assumed CM would win 3-0. But at least then they feel like part of the process. So I ditched it and asked my wife only what she thought. She said 100% CP and she gaurenteed me the other 2 would follow suit without thinking twice. Anyway we ended up just telling the 2 kids we are going to CP. Really excitted of course. Then today I told them I was going to give them the choice, my daughter tells me 100% HWN's and Hw is 1000 times better than CP. My son doesn't make up his mind easily and everything is always indecision with him. But he was 50/50 mainly due to the water park. Long story short my planned vote would have ended up 1.5-1.5 and I would have ended up just choosing anyways. At least now I know HWN is down for next june.
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Your kids have good taste! :)
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Your son is worse than me... Whenever someone asks me top pick one of two options I just blurt it out and leave, I don't even take the time to think. This works with everything unless I'm navigating a trip where we (whomever I am with) have no clue where we are.
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The CM page says you get a free drink refill wristband. Does that mean you get free drinks all weekend. How HWN`s of CP.
as long as you don`t have have to carry around a cup.
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In the past I had to carry around a cup. A small refillable cup. Like 12oz.
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Well that won`t do...
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Bring a folding camping cup : )
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I`ll just ask to stick my mouth under the spout.
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Yes, the park said they will be ready for opening day.
And now they're not so sure...
Apparently Tom Rebbie announced at ACE's NoCoaster the other day that Holiday World has ordered a new PTC train for The Voyage. Hmmmmm....
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Screamscape apparantly got the answer on that from Paula today. I don't recall exactly the wording but it sounded to me like they didn't want to take any chances but still plan to open with the TL.
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They ordered five CARS from Tom...which with the PTC train and two PTC cars they have means they will have two PTC trains if need be...as told at NoCoaster by Tom...
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what does 5 PTC "cars" run you? More than they sold the 2 used trains to darien lake for? Seems like an expensive insurance policy... you'd think they'd just drop raven to a 1 train opperation for the early season. Unless timberliners... don't even want to think about it anymore. HWN's will be a little embarassing if they aren't ready.
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Why should it be embarrassing? Timberliners were a new concept. Some things work, some don't, some take a long time to work. Now, if the park were to install new trains and they malfunctioned and caused severe injuries or worse, that would be far worse than embarrassing. Also remember, the parks get their money and their reputation almost all from the general public and groups, not from enthusiasts. Holiday World (and other parks, for that matter) does a very nice thing in having HWN, but enthusiasts are not entitled to any different deals than offered to other groups.
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What I meant by embarrassing was that timberliners were a game time decision at last years HWN... and 1 year later if they are still not ready. Especially considering they gave out free tickets for that year to come back to ride the timberliners. It`s like having a check bounce, writting a new check only to have it bounce again. I get that these things take time, I was only speaking on the HWN`s aspect of this. Ordering these emegency trains I believe is smart. Most parks would probably have too much pride to do this as it`s almost admitting to making a mistake (selling off the old ones pre-maturely) You can`t dwell on mistakes, you can only move forward. Also it`s not like these cars will go to waste with 2 other rides that use 2 PTC trains each.
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You must remember Will Koch was instrumental in the Timberliners. The man was a very key part of their implementation. The loss of Will has affected the park (and many of us) in many different ways. The park has no reason to be embarrassed, and I truly doubt it is. Now, Knobel's Amusement Resort, how many years has it been so far? And even there there is no embarrassment...recreating the past from scratch isn't easy either.
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Two trains on the Raven!
That deserves a bell ring.
Sounds like it is time to start planning the trip to HWN.
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^ I'll make sure to tell Wade to bring the brown bags for the parking lot.
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And bring ear plugs too if you share a room with Ken. ;)
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Raven with one train was walk-on last year. Except the back seat was a 3-4 train wait.
Wow make no mistake i`m not hatin on HW. I`m new to being an enthusiest (2008) but HW is easily my favourite park. I love everything about it and wish more parks were operated with such concern for the customer. I was only commenting on this particular situation. I don`t imagion anyine attending HWN will be upset if they are not ready. Perhaps dissapointed, but understanding. If anything it might just tilt people who are 50/50 on attending into not attending. But it's hard to estimate things like that. Which reminds me who ever is attending this year give mrs. Koch a big canadian 80th birthday kiss for me ;) and Paula just for being Paula lol.
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And bring ear plugs too if you share a room with Ken. ;)
LOL..Thanks Matt!
Many laps on the Voyage will make one so tired that it won't make a difference.
Yes Raven was a walk on...I was just trying to look at the good side of things.
I think they will do their best to get the Timberliners on for HWN. They sure tried hard enough last year.
My main concern would be did they get that smell out of the tunnel on the Voyage.
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I liked that smell. It was so Indiana.
Coastermania..... Why do they have MF and Maverick ERT in the morning? Is there a logic behind that or is it just the way it played out.
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If anything it might just tilt people who are 50/50 on attending into not attending.
Or it will tilt many people, who don't want the Timberliners, to attend and get one more crazy weekend of the best night rides around. :)
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Coastermania..... Why do they have MF and Maverick ERT in the morning? Is there a logic behind that or is it just the way it played out.
I'm guessing it's because those rides are so popular that they would have to close them to the public an hour or more before park closing in order to clear the public for ERT.
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oh right... Like the old get in line at 9:59 and still get a ride even if it`s not until 11:00. Makes sense. You`d think TTD would be in the same boat. Maybe that is why ERT starts at 10:45 on the Dragster night, and 10:15 on saturday when the longest line ert ride would be raptor.
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In a strange turn of events CP changed coaster mania to July 13th this year. Pro: you could now go to HWN`s and CM. Con: It`s now only one day!
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In a strange turn of events CP changed coaster mania to July 13th this year. Pro: you could now go to HWN`s and CM. Con: It`s now only one day!
Makes no difference to me. I'd never go to Coaster Mania over HolIWood Nights.
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I think you missed the point a little.. they are not on the same weekend anymore. Doesn`t it seem odd they made a one day event... Hardly an event at all. It is almost like they want to get rid of it all together, but kept it as a one day just to say its still on.
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It always used to be a one day event. Most people can't handle two days of it considering how long those days are anyway. I haven't spent a full day at Cedar Point since 1998 or so. I like to go multiple days when I go, but take it at my leisure.
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Could be squashed to one day due to the ACE Spring Conference 2012 @ Cedar Point? May 18-20
Maybe they just didn't expect the same attendance to Coaster Mania due to that event.
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I did not know it used to be a one day event. I like 2 days at the point. Otherwise you feel too rushed, and you get run down. The scheduale last year was commically packed. But thats cool! I remember gettting back to our hotel last year around 1 and asking my daughter if we were getting up at 5 for Millie, and Maverick ERT... of course the plan was to get up, but I think we snoozed it like 45 times and got there just in time for early entry. The point I am trying to get at is the weekend was good for both (go-hards) and chilled out people. Go at your own pace.
Personally I won't be headed back to the point until another new ride goes in. I've been 3 times (2 days each) since Maverick. Always a good time, but many other places to get to. Drop 25 mil on a new coaster... be right over. ;)
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When I used to go to Mania, it was always on Friday. But I would always go to the park on Thursday to enjoy minimal waits. It was always longer waits for Raptor during ERT than it was all day Thursday. Then on Saturday I would head to another park like Geauga Lake or Michigan's Adventure.
Coaster Mania was one day only for nearly 20 years. It all started with Magnum Mania in 1989.
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Last year myt kids rode Raptor 10 times with out getting off during ERT... Nobody told us they replaced Windseeker ERT with Millenium Force.
I think if I went again and it was only a friday event I would do something like that. Deffinatly not going on a saturday in July.
Do you think the made it Friday the 13th for a purpose, or just by chance?
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Don't know but I think that pretty much guarantees the Windseeker won't be working again.
I really need to start thinking about my 2012 trips. Spring is coming fast!
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HWN's + SFStl.
CW + Marineland.
Fiesta Texas + SSOT + Seaworld
PPP
Planing done... I'll take 5% ;)
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hmm, I got mine planned out:
Great Adventure x10+
Morey's Piers
Dorney Park
Hershey Park
Busch Gardens
King's Dominion
Knoebel's (maybe)