Darien Lakes and Cedar Point

Wow. What a day. Cedar Point is an awesome park. I definitely concur with the notion of it being the best coaster park in the world. The literature says they have fourteen coasters, and that includes several steel coasters, two or three speed coasters, at least one kiddy coaster, one small wood coaster, and two or three full-on woodies.

Darien Lakes was a pretty good warm-up park. It was windy the whole three to four hours we were there, so it was pretty cold. But the coasters weregood (not awesome), and it's no longer a Six Flags park. Who knew? So Superman is now just “The Ride of Steel,” and the prizes at the carney games are no longer Warner Brothers themed. Now, on to the coasters.

First, the parking lot ride. Ordinarily, I don't consider this a ride. But the way Josh drives, it was a good warm up. Just kidding. But when I opened my door, the wind caught it and it hit and closed (and nominally f*@&ed up) the door of the woman who was trying to get out of the car next to us.

The Ride of Steel (formerly superman) was first. I haven't been on a roller coaster is several (at least three) years. So, the former Superman was a little intimidating. The big lift hill at the beginning actually gave me a little scare. But after that it was all dark chocolate. I remember something about this coaster going fifty-ish mph, but that doesn't touch Steel Force's 68.

Predator. I don't like wooden roller coasters. I don't like the Comet at Great Escape, mostly because it's at Great Escape, but I also just don't like it. Maybe it's just because I haven't been coasting in a few years, but I loved this ride. It was smooth, as wooden coasters go, and it was fun.

Viper was odd. It was a sit-in-the-car steel coaster with inversions, and it had those notorious shoulder harnesses that are the bane of tall riders everywhere. There were some interesting, twisty inversions, and I learned how to handle said harnesses. If you slide your bum forward in the seat, your shoulders move into a more short-person orientation, relieving the ouchiness.

There was also the Mind Eraser, but I'll write about that later, as I am tired after a long day of waiting in line. I will also sum up Cedar Point in my next post.