July 11th
Once we were up for the day, I went back to Joan and told her that there was no way that I was putting up with the trains another night and that I wanted a refund for the second night of my stay. She gave me the refund, but did not seem apologetic at all, and made a comment to the effect of that no one had ever complained about the trains! I don't see how every person in that motel did not run to the office to complain! It was absolutely deafening! And went on for hours...not just one or two times...I'm talking at least a dozen trains over the course of the night!
Once that was taken care of, we headed off to another hotel a little closer to the park for breakfast. They had a sign advertising a cheap buffet breakfast, which was what we both wanted. It was basic but good, so we both got a good start to the day. We decided to only take one car to the park, so I parked my car in an undisclosed location, and he drove to the park.
We wandered slowly back to Top Thrill Dragster, taking pictures along the way. I'd had to charge my camera battery in the car the night before since we had no power at the hotel, so I had to make up for not having the camera most of the first day!
Julie says "I'm not scared of Top Thrill Dragster. I mean, look how much taller Power Tower is!
Kevin tries to birth Top Thrill Dragster from the top of his head
Once at Top Thrill Dragster, we got in line, figuring that we would never be more ready than we were right then. I was scared...I mean truly scared to ride it. I just kept watching it over and over, and there were times when I was just sure it was going to roll back...and I just got more and more nervous. Trying to laugh off the nerves, we joked that consciousness was all I was aiming for after the ride. So long as I didn't pass out or die, it would be ok hahaha.
Julie hopes she doesn't become the first TTD casualty
We waited about an hour and 15 minutes, which wasn't terrible considering what the lines have been in the past. Once we were actually in our dragster, I seemed to have a mini panic attack...I could barely breathe and was almost crying I was so nervous. It didn't last long though since we didn't sit there very long. As soon as it launched, I remember thinking for a split second that I couldn't believe that it wasn't taking my breath away. I don't remember the climb at all, but do recall my ears popping as we crested the top hat. But I most distinctly remember the visual of being 420 feet up and seeing the track spiraling down straight below me and thinking a stream of expletives. But as soon as I was about halfway down, it was pretty clear that this was one of the best rides I'd ever ridden! Before we were even horizontal again, we were both screaming because we'd loved it so much. I can't even really say what was so great about it...it was just big and fast and intense, yet comfortable and not scary (once it was launched!). Truly a fantastic ride except that it could stand to be five times as long! Y'know, I really wanted to walk away from it saying it was overrated...but I can't! I absolutely loved it and could have ridden it all day had it not been for the long line. Credit #102.
Julie loves Top Thrill Dragster!
Kevin loves Top Thrill Dragster also! (Why does that girl behind him look so upset about that?)
As we came down from our adrenaline rushes, we both stopped for cold treats...me a snow cone in an upside down sombrero, and him some Dippin' Dots.
Cherry/Grape upside down sombrero snow cone
We needed to clean up the last two credits I hadn't gotten, Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Raptor (Wicked Twister was closed both days, and neither of us planned on riding it anyway), so we headed to the back of the park. We ate as we walked, then stopped as we approached Cedar Creek Mine ride to finish up my snow cone.
Credit #103 - Cedar Creek Mine Ride
The ride had a very low wait, and this was what I would consider a starter coaster. It was fun, but nothing to write home about. Credit #103.
Kevin pulls the fireman's finger in the Cedar Point museum
We walked back through Frontiertown, and made a stop in the Cedar Point museum for a few minutes. It was really interesting, though we both wished that the old arcade games and movie machines actually worked! Those things are so cool when they are working. We did a little browsing through the shops in that area but didn't end up buying anything.
It's FAN-tasmic!
We ended up being goofy and taking pictures with lots of the Peanuts props...
...including my discovery of the Great Pumpkin.
Lucy doesn't seem very happy to be getting that kiss from Kevin. Maybe it's because he's touching her boob?
Charlie Brown is very happy to be getting a kiss from Julie though
We still had a receipt for the game tickets we'd won playing skee ball yesterday, so we stopped in the main arcade to see what we could get for our 17 tickets.
While there we found one of the drum games that Robb and Elissa on TPR talk about so much, so Kevin decided to try it out.
I didn't play, but it looked really fun, and not that difficult if you have rhythm.
I also decided to play some sort of whack the chicken game, which I assume was malfunctioning since I hit every chicken that lit up, and it still told me I missed over 20 of them! When we were done with our games, we had enough tickets for two mini decks of Cedar Point cards and two Cedar Point heart boxes on strings.