Part 4 (Final). Other rides, food and final thoughts.
For a Amusement Park that has so many coasters, it's impressive CP has a ton of different flat rides to bolster their roster. It makes for a pretty well balanced park, not to mention it's got some unique rides in the bunch as well. One of which was just added!
Snake River Expedition - New for this year is a family boat ride that takes a stab with some theming, story and other little surprises. I'm keeping this review pretty short and simple since it's probably best going in blind or with low expectations. My friend and I honestly though it was a cute addition, it's definitely a great family experience with some wonderfully corny and charming touches to it.
Another unique ride which I really enjoyed and is a bit of a classic at the park is Cedar Downs, which takes the carousel and cranks it up a tad in the speed department. (If the wrong name for a Carousel is "Horse Tornado", Cedar Downs is the F5/Finger of God of Horse Tornados.) I really enjoyed that ride and was pleasantly surprised the horses "Race" throughout the ride. It's got a lot of classic charm to it and I'm glad Cedar Point keeps it running in good condition!
As for food, Cedar Point does have a pretty nice selection. Since I was really busy riding everything for the first time I didn't eat too much, but I did go to Hugo's and had some nice pasta, went down to Melt and had The Dude Abides which was quite tasty, and later on I went to the French Quarter Confections for some Funnel Cake Fries topped with chocolate, caramel and chocolate chips. Definitely liked all that I tried, and I wouldn't mind hitting up more places next time I there.
Oh yes, I almost forgot!
So operation-wise, earlier this season the park was doing a not-so-fond choice of closing the lines early so they'd be fully done when the park officially closes. (So closing Steel Vengeance's line 30+ minutes before park close etc.)
I do believe they've done away with that since I recall closing the first night at Valravn and people were still getting in line right around park close, and Sunday night we exited Steel Vengeance around 9:48 and the line was still open, and it most certainly didn't have a 12 minute or under wait.
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So for my final thoughts, I was really impressed by Cedar Point. It's hailed as one of the best Amusement Parks for very good reasons. It's got a ton of great coasters and rides in a wonderful setting, tons of live entertainment abound, good food, a really nice onsite hotel in the form of Hotel Breakers, really good ops and it all makes for a very fun weekend getaway. Not bad at all for a place that's celebrating 150 years!
I do hope to return again soon, t'was a great weekend with a good friend, and hopefully we'll have even more locals with us next time!
-Tobias