I had been looking forward to this day my whole life! Today Michele and I would be at the Roller Coaster Capital of the World, Cedar Point on the shores of Lake Erie in the small town of Sandusky, Ohio. We have been on the road for five days on the rock n roller 16 coaster tour across America and today we would ride some of the most famous roller coasters in the United States.
We had been reading about the opening of a brand new coaster, Valravn. We decided to buy the Fastpass, it is like a backstage pass for theme parks, and we were one of the first people in line. This coaster was awesome! Michele and I loved it! It was so smooth. It is dubbed, the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. From the Cedar Point website:
Prepare for a roller coaster experience unlike any other at Cedar Point. Valravn takes you up 223 feet and holds you over the edge of the drop for 4 seconds! After what feels like an eternity hanging over the edge, you’ll dive 214 feet at a 90 degree angle traveling at speeds up to 75 mph. Get flipped upside-down in a massive Immelmann maneuver, then dive a second time into a dive loop and a 270-degree roll. End your flight on Valravn with a pop of airtime before it’s all over and you’re catching your breath once again.
After Valravn we hurried over to the oldest coaster in the park, a woodie, Gemini. It was build in the 60s and so cool to see and feel the difference in 50+ years of coaster technology.
We worked our way through the park, riding the now infamous, Mean Streak, that the park would abruptly close weeks after our ride citing old technology that needed a facelift. We flipped and dipped for hours till we came upon Gatekeeper. It is the longest coaster in the park and the one that lives up to its name. It is the coaster that hurls riders over the front gate of the park and gives visitors a preview of what is to come. Everything was fine until I suddenly felt something hit me in the face. Michele had passed out and thrown up on one of the many loops. In my face, yuk!
After the ride and covered in throw-up we made our way through the park and back the to the truck. We could not understand what was happening. We had only been on our coaster tour for two days and Michele had gotten sick twice. We talked about just heading to the airport and going home. Scrapping the whole trip. Michele insisted that was not happening. We still had at least 95 coasters and more than 5000 miles to go over the next couple weeks. Was it really worth all the time, money, and effort if Michele is going to get sick every day? We decided it was and headed back in.
We would ride several more coasters including one that would become on of our favorites on the entire trip, Maverick. Michele and I made a pact. She even brought it up: she would be allowed to opt out of one coaster every day and I agreed. She opted out of the very tall and very fast, Millennium XL. I rode it by myself. The view of the lake and the park as we made our way to the top of the big dip was amazing!
We were out of the park by 3 and knew we had another very long drive to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. But we had to stop for a sandwich first. We looked up Primanti Brothers outside of Pittsburg. It was one of the best sandwiches we have ever had in our life!
We drove the next six hours downhill. Yep, downhill. How can the entire state of Pennsylvania be downhill on the turnpike, from Pittsburg to Philadelphia? It sure does feel like it.
We arrived really late to the hotel again outside of Harrisburg. Tomorrow was a big day. We would be spending it in the “Happiest Place on Earth.”
Tomorrow: Hershey Park
Coasters to date on the tour: 18
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