DCIV: Highs and Lows
I'm back in Chicago, of course, and the weekend is over. Overall, Saturday was a pretty good time. I was rather surprised that things went as well as they did, even with the large number of people going. Scott and the others wanted to ride the Top Thrill Dragster first off in the day, which I could have told them from the get-go would be a pointless endeavor. Everyone and their brother goes right for that one, or for the Maverick that early in the day...plus, the Dragster always has issues until well into the morning hours. Thank goodness it didn't take long to convince them that waiting for it would be a waste of time at that hour. Our first coaster was the Magnum. Ah, what a wonderful coaster, even if it's gotten steadily rougher over time. I convinced Joanna to sit up with me in the front seat of the front car. She vowed never to do that again, ha ha. I think it shook her up pretty good, given her size. But it's tradition that I have to ride first car first seat at least once for that coaster.
It was one hell of a hot day. I swear we picked the hottest day of the summer to go to the park. Seems that happens every time I go to Cedar Point. Last time, when I went with 'Manda, Nate and Josh, it was also hotter than Hades. Of course, this time, Cedar Point workers weren't handing out water to people. Not sure why, since it was just about as hot as the last time. Likely costs. I dunno. Joanna's friends were suckers, and bought the $3 water bottles from the line machines. Insanity. I would much rather time trips to the water fountains between rides than fork over that kind of money for WATER. It's such a rip-off.
We be-bopped around most of the park during the morning. I will say that the organizational planning of how to tackle the park was sub-par. I mean, I know that most of them have never been there before, but I could think that they'd be able to find a better means of riding the coasters than what we did. I swear that we walked the whole of the park at least four times. Our next stop after the Magnum was the Maverick. Oh dear lord...what a coaster. I think it ties as my favorite coaster in the park with the MeanStreak. Seriously...holy cow. That coaster doesn't look like much from the ground when you see it, but it's one wicked ride. I think then it was up to the front for the Raptor, then the Millennium Force. We stopped for lunch somewhere at this point, eating at a Chick-Fillet. Outrageous prices in food. I would have rathered to have found food somewhere else that was cheaper, but I was not in charge of this group, and they wanted Chick-Fillet. Never again will I be eating there. A sad little box of Chicken nuggets cost me almost ten dollars....without a drink, even. Pitiful.
After this, Scott wanted to try for the Dragster again. Joanna and the rest of the girls had no interest in getting on that ride, but I wasn't going to miss out on it. Haven't been on that coaster at all, and it was built some time ago. So I waved good-bye to Joanna and left her with my phone so I didn't lose it on the ride. I think all of the guys and myself made a group of eight that were going to try our luck on the Dragster. Overall, not a bad line. I think we waited about forty-five minutes. Shortest I've ever seen for that line. After riding it, I think that forty-five minutes is the most I would wait for it. Granted, it's one hell of a thrill to be shot off that fast, straight up, then straight down again. But I wouldn't be willing to wait more than an hour for it. The excitement doesn't pay out as much as most of the other coasters. Rather hard to justify an hour in line for a ride that's less than a minute long.
We all met up again after the Dragster, and rode a few of the other coasters in the park. The Gemini and the MeanStreak were on that list. It was getting towards the end of the evening when we got on the Maverick again. That's a good coaster in the dark, too. I wanted to ride the Wild Cat and the Blue Streak, but we never got to them. By the time we got up to the Wild Cat, it was closed to prepare for the fireworks show. Oh well, I guess I don't have to ride that one every year that I go. Joanna and I rode Chaos once, just to show her what it was like. Oh man...with her size, we had that car really going. I don't think I've ever spent that much time looking straight down at the ground when riding that ride. It was amazingly terrifying. She convinced me to get on the Tilt-a-Twirl, too. It's her favorite ride of all time, so we had to go on that one. It was the last thing we rode in the park before she and I decided to head home.
Everyone else left at various points of the evening...a few before the second riding of the Maverick, most of the rest after that. All of them were driving back to Chicago that evening still, so they wanted to get home before three in the blessed am. I don't blame them. It ended up being just Joanna and I leaving around ten. With all the walking in the park, I think both of us had just about had it. Could have ridden the Blue Streak if we had wanted, but I think the walking had pretty much done Joanna in for the night. She's just not used to it all. I was sunburned, anyway (though not as badly as other times).
We got back to the parents' place around ten-thirty-ish, and mom was kind enough to have burgers waiting. She knew we were hungry from the park, since we'd only eaten lunch and not anything for dinner. Moms are awesome like that. I think I devoured two burgers before being satisfied. We didn't stay up too late after that, since Sunday we'd be driving back to Chicago fairly early. That morning, I promised Joanna that we'd go over to 'Manda and Heath's to see the turkeys and chickens. 'Manda happened to be home by then, since she and Heath were gone most of the weekend for a shooting training camp or something. So she gave us the ten-cent tour of the yard with the turkeys and chickens. I chatted with her for a short while and snitched a pancake, but we couldn't stay long if we wanted to be back in Chicago by early afternoon.
I think we got in around two or three today, and it took a while for me to get myself back together and prepared for going back to work tomorrow. The sunburn isn't that bad, thank goodness, but I know I don't feel like I'm ready to be back in the office tomorrow. Oh joy, right? Well, it's late and I should be in bed. Later days, all.
Rage more, Mary Brave, rage more.
It was one hell of a hot day. I swear we picked the hottest day of the summer to go to the park. Seems that happens every time I go to Cedar Point. Last time, when I went with 'Manda, Nate and Josh, it was also hotter than Hades. Of course, this time, Cedar Point workers weren't handing out water to people. Not sure why, since it was just about as hot as the last time. Likely costs. I dunno. Joanna's friends were suckers, and bought the $3 water bottles from the line machines. Insanity. I would much rather time trips to the water fountains between rides than fork over that kind of money for WATER. It's such a rip-off.
We be-bopped around most of the park during the morning. I will say that the organizational planning of how to tackle the park was sub-par. I mean, I know that most of them have never been there before, but I could think that they'd be able to find a better means of riding the coasters than what we did. I swear that we walked the whole of the park at least four times. Our next stop after the Magnum was the Maverick. Oh dear lord...what a coaster. I think it ties as my favorite coaster in the park with the MeanStreak. Seriously...holy cow. That coaster doesn't look like much from the ground when you see it, but it's one wicked ride. I think then it was up to the front for the Raptor, then the Millennium Force. We stopped for lunch somewhere at this point, eating at a Chick-Fillet. Outrageous prices in food. I would have rathered to have found food somewhere else that was cheaper, but I was not in charge of this group, and they wanted Chick-Fillet. Never again will I be eating there. A sad little box of Chicken nuggets cost me almost ten dollars....without a drink, even. Pitiful.
After this, Scott wanted to try for the Dragster again. Joanna and the rest of the girls had no interest in getting on that ride, but I wasn't going to miss out on it. Haven't been on that coaster at all, and it was built some time ago. So I waved good-bye to Joanna and left her with my phone so I didn't lose it on the ride. I think all of the guys and myself made a group of eight that were going to try our luck on the Dragster. Overall, not a bad line. I think we waited about forty-five minutes. Shortest I've ever seen for that line. After riding it, I think that forty-five minutes is the most I would wait for it. Granted, it's one hell of a thrill to be shot off that fast, straight up, then straight down again. But I wouldn't be willing to wait more than an hour for it. The excitement doesn't pay out as much as most of the other coasters. Rather hard to justify an hour in line for a ride that's less than a minute long.
We all met up again after the Dragster, and rode a few of the other coasters in the park. The Gemini and the MeanStreak were on that list. It was getting towards the end of the evening when we got on the Maverick again. That's a good coaster in the dark, too. I wanted to ride the Wild Cat and the Blue Streak, but we never got to them. By the time we got up to the Wild Cat, it was closed to prepare for the fireworks show. Oh well, I guess I don't have to ride that one every year that I go. Joanna and I rode Chaos once, just to show her what it was like. Oh man...with her size, we had that car really going. I don't think I've ever spent that much time looking straight down at the ground when riding that ride. It was amazingly terrifying. She convinced me to get on the Tilt-a-Twirl, too. It's her favorite ride of all time, so we had to go on that one. It was the last thing we rode in the park before she and I decided to head home.
Everyone else left at various points of the evening...a few before the second riding of the Maverick, most of the rest after that. All of them were driving back to Chicago that evening still, so they wanted to get home before three in the blessed am. I don't blame them. It ended up being just Joanna and I leaving around ten. With all the walking in the park, I think both of us had just about had it. Could have ridden the Blue Streak if we had wanted, but I think the walking had pretty much done Joanna in for the night. She's just not used to it all. I was sunburned, anyway (though not as badly as other times).
We got back to the parents' place around ten-thirty-ish, and mom was kind enough to have burgers waiting. She knew we were hungry from the park, since we'd only eaten lunch and not anything for dinner. Moms are awesome like that. I think I devoured two burgers before being satisfied. We didn't stay up too late after that, since Sunday we'd be driving back to Chicago fairly early. That morning, I promised Joanna that we'd go over to 'Manda and Heath's to see the turkeys and chickens. 'Manda happened to be home by then, since she and Heath were gone most of the weekend for a shooting training camp or something. So she gave us the ten-cent tour of the yard with the turkeys and chickens. I chatted with her for a short while and snitched a pancake, but we couldn't stay long if we wanted to be back in Chicago by early afternoon.
I think we got in around two or three today, and it took a while for me to get myself back together and prepared for going back to work tomorrow. The sunburn isn't that bad, thank goodness, but I know I don't feel like I'm ready to be back in the office tomorrow. Oh joy, right? Well, it's late and I should be in bed. Later days, all.
Rage more, Mary Brave, rage more.