(no subject)
Got back from Cedar Point with Jackie the other day.
She and I left for 3 days, making the 4 and a half hour trip in the midafternoon and staying in a hotel a couple minutes from the theme park. We took her car.
Went on, I think, every roller coaster in the park. Cedar point has been, for the past 7 years, rated the best theme park in the world. They have more record breaking rides than any other park. I'll spare you details, except the ones about how she and I almost died.
"Top Thrill Dragster" is the world's fastest rollercoaster at 125 mph, 420 feet into the air. Essentially, a train is shot off by rollers at the start, then takes the rest of the ride on its built up momentum. Straight forward at 125, straight up into the air, over a hill, then a spiral straight towards the ground.
It was closed the whole first and second day we were at the park. On the third day, a couple hours before we had decided to head home, empty test trains began running down the tracks. A line started to form outside of the gate, and Jackie and I hopped in.
We stood right where the people are in the picture and watched as the last test car came in. The first train was loaded up, and rolled forward towards the launch site. People were cheering, and the riders looked nervous.
People had gathered and stood to watch the passengers be shot into the sky. The lights lit and the engines gave a roar, and claps and cheers erupted from the crowd again. Lights lit yellow, then green, and the train was sent at a mind-boggling speed up into the air and straight up the tracks.
They went straight down the track, up the hill, to the curve 420 feet in the air... and stopped. The entire crowd let out a gasp as the train full of screaming people slowly rolled backwards, then picked up speed and raced back down the track. A moment of silence, then another gasp as the crowds realized that another train had been moved up to the launch site and that it looked like the two were going to collide.
Somehow they didnt. The train was rolled back to the launch site and an employee walked up to the train. "The coaster hasnt been worked in a while," he explained, "so the pressure just hasn't built up yet. You're welcome to get off now, but if you want to stay on, the pressure is looking better this time."
They all stayed on.
Of course, Jackie and I stayed in line and were on the 4th(ish, I think) train up. The first few gave the same scare in that they got unusually slow at the top. The second time for the first train almost didnt make it again.
The unity a crowd of strangers can pick up in a situation like that is amazing.
So, that was my near-death experience. Yeah, so I didnt come that close to dying, but it makes for a good story anyway.
I came home and was greeted by a dozen roses, a box of chocolate, stuffed animals, a heart shaped balloon, a "welcome home!" poster, and Jimmy in a suit.
It... was... adorable.
Good vacation. People wanna hang out? call me.