I have been going to Cedar Point for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, my dad’s company, Smucker’s, would have their annual picnic there every three years. (They rotated between Cedar Point, Sea World and Clay’s Park Resort.) I grew up riding the Blue Streak, Cedar Downs, the Mine Ride and all the others. We might only go once a year — or maybe once every three years, but Cedar Point was the highlight of my summers.
As an adult, I have’t gone quite as often, until recently. Thanks to the Bloggy Conference connections, my husband, Bobby, and I have gone to Cedar Point at least once every year for the past three years. While the conference is held the first weekend of Hallow-weekends (Cedar Points annual halloween festival) I have been able to preview a couple of their new attractions. One was the Valravn, which you can read about here. The other was their new Cedar Shores Waterpark, which you can read about here.
I was eager to be able to do the same with Cedar Points newest attraction, Steel Vengeance. It is the highest, fastest, longest hybrid coaster in the world. I saw last year where they dismantled the Mean Streak so that they could put in Steel Vengeance. But either I missed the email with information on how to go to the preview event in May or the Bloggy Conference people weren’t invited to attend. (I think it might be the former, but I honestly don’t know.) So I was a little disappointed, but knew I would be able to ride it in September.
When we arrived at the first day of the Bloggy Conference, the public relations chief, Tony Clark, was there. After explaining many things about Cedar Point, he offered Fast Lane passes to people in the audience if they could answer some trivia questions about Cedar Point. I had hoped to win, but didn’t. The Fast Lane pass allows you to “legally” jump the line. There is a fee for this privilege, but you can drastically cut down the wait time. Which given that waiting for a premium coaster ride can usually be a good hour and sometimes 2 hours, it seems worth the price. Well, maybe if you are going to be there the whole day — with the Bloggy Conference, we were only going to be able to go to the park for a few hours and Bobby doesn’t ride coasters.
We had met up with some other bloggers (Claudia and Garrett Pennington) and agreed to go to Cedar Point after the conference on Saturday. Claudia likes rides, but Garrett gets a little motion sick. I agreed I would ride roller coasters with Claudia while Garrett and Bobby waited for us. Imagine my surprise when Bobby told me that he had won four Fast Lane passes! That meant none of our waiting would be as long as we expected!
Claudia and I decided to start the afternoon off with riding The Raptor. I probably had ridden this coaster before, but I couldn’t remember much about it. After all the twists and turns of the coaster, I remembered why I blocked it out. My equilibrium isn’t what it used to be, so I was a little shaken by it. It was also hot, so we got something to drink after that ride and sat in the shade…for quite awhile.
After that, we decided to head to Steel Vengeance. When I had heard the description of the coaster that morning, I was a little worried. In my head I thought I could probably not ride it and be fine. But Claudia is from Pennsylvania so I wondered when she and Garrett would be able to be back for the opportunity. Even still as we got closer I was not sure I could go through with it. We saw the wait, even with the Fast Lane pass, would be 45 minutes. We vacillated for several minutes. I hadn’t recovered completely from The Raptor, so the idea of all the twists were not that appealing to me. (I know I sound like I don’t like coasters, but I do. I can really only take a couple of loops before it begins to take a toll on me, but I love that first hill.) In the end, we decided to wait in line. I honestly couldn’t bring myself to be so close and to miss the chance to ride it.
Claudia and I were in line behind a group who had ridden the coaster before. They obviously survived and liked it. We were in front of two young girls — 10 and 11 years old (I asked). They weren’t scared — I asked that, too. So Claudia and I were bond and determine not to let the fear of the coaster beat us. Claudia mentioned that as long as it had the shoulder straps, she would be O.K. She hated just having the lap belt.
When we got close enough to see the people getting on and off the ride, we realized there were no shoulder restraints. That surprised us both. We knew the coaster made you go upside down and did twists. But of course, logic told me that Cedar Point would have made sure the ride was perfectly safe. Even if the other side of my brain was screaming, “How can you go upside down without being strapped in from head to foot!”
I shut down that conversation in my head. I felt I need to be brave for Claudia. (I am the older one.) We got into the ride. As we discovered, the cars had very snug seats which included sections for your legs to get snuggled into as well. There were seat belts you buckled and a tight lap bar also. There was no way we would be moving until the mechanical/computerized system let you out. (Don’t ask me how it works, I’m a writer not an engineer!)
Once we were strapped in, the kid in charge of pushing the button to start the ride, did just that and we were off. The ride takes off pretty quickly, whipping you around a curve and then to start the ascent up the first long hill. While we were waiting in line I timed the ride a couple of times. It seemed to be a total of a 4 minute ride, but about 1 minute was spent climbing the hill and another minute was spent at the end waiting to unload. So that meant the rest of the ride was around 2 minutes long. (That’s an impressive length of time for a roller coaster.) The clickety-clack on the track as the train climbed the hill was nerve racking enough. Then for the briefest moment the complete silence as the train reaches the summit before it plummets down to earth is almost ear-shattering. In that moment I think I took a breath. After that there was not breathing until the end.
The descent down the first hill stole my breath away. Then we were off on a series of twists and turns, ups and downs. The car would race one way take a twist and curve and then unexpectedly twist to go back the other way. I don’t know how many times it did this, but seemed like more than it should. On many of the coasters I have ridden, there is that first terrifying hill and then smaller hills. Then maybe another smaller incline to another jaw dropping hill. But in that time, the climb up the smaller incline gives you a chance to catch your breath before the next plummet. This is not the case with Steel Vengeance. Once you start there is no slow down; no brief hiatus; no catching your breath until that glorious minute at the end waiting for the train in front of you to start their ride.
While waiting in line I thought that was silly. After riding (and surviving) the ride, I thought it was genius. I looked over at Claudia and her hands were shaking. I assume that was from the adrenaline. The girls behind us — yes the 10 and 11 year old girls — seemed fine. The next car in front of us I think the little girl was about the toss her cookies, but somehow she held them back. I was right with her. The Raptor had shaken my equilibrium. The Steel Vengeance tossed it out the door.
Most of the people on the ride cheered when we got back to the station. I was not one of them. I know my limitations and the Steel Vengeance had gone way beyond them. When we finally made our way out to the men, Bobby had his recorder going. He asked us how it was. Here are direct quotes from Claudia and me, right after the ride:
- “That is the scariest thing I ever done in my life.”
- “It’s pretty intense. The whole time. It never gave you a chance to catch your breath.”
- “I was getting myself psyched up the whole time, but when we reached the top of the hill, I was like, I want off. Then I couldn’t say anything the rest of the time.”
After that, we got something to eat. In retrospect, I’m not sure if that was a good idea or not. We walked out of Frontier Land (the part of the park where Steel Vengeance lays in wait for its victims) and headed back toward the front of the park. Claudia went on the Corkscrew. With the Fast Lane pass she got right on. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Then we went to check out Valravn. Even though I was a little shaky, I think it has become one of my favorite rides. I had to ride it, even if I would pay afterward. Claudia had never ridden it, but she seemed to enjoy it, too.
We were done with rides after that — both physically and mentally. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m too old for roller coasters. I never thought I could be, but after a day at Cedar Point with Fast Lane passes and Steel Vengeance, I honestly might be. Now the waiting a couple hours for a ride doesn’t sound so horrible. At least then you can get your equilibrium working right before you subject it to more torture! I don’t know, you be the judge.
