With my early morning shift now out of the way, it is now time that I share with you what happened on Saturday.  This is my experience at Cedar Point HalloWeekends.

 

WARNING! This recap is really long.

 

Before my alarm could even wake me up, I hear the sound of the shower running.  The time was 4:30 in the morning.  My sister was taking a shower.  While I originally planned on waking up at 5:00 a.m., I gladly got out of bed and got the coffee going.

One cup of coffee later, I was getting everything out to the car.  Directions to Cedar Point? Check.   Cedar Point tickets, Fast Lane Plus vouchers and Super 8 reservations?  Check.  Once me and my brother had everything in the car, we were off, jamming out to the wonderful sounds of Weird Al Yankovic, hearing him sing about computer viruses.

At about almost 100 miles into the trip, I had to go to the bathroom.  I had to pee really really bad.  I counted down the minutes, each one seeming like an eternity.

Finally, at 120 miles, we pulled into a rest stop.  Relief at last.  I bee-lined it into the bathroom like a marathon runner and let all my troubles go away.

After my trip to the bathroom and buying a water, I exited with my brother.  It was my turn to drive, so we jammed to some John Reuben, an artist from central Ohio.

After driving through the I-475 business loop around Toledo, me and my brother decided to get something to eat before we got on the turnpike.  With that, we stopped at a McDonald’s in Perryburg, Ohio.  The meal consisted of 2 hash browns, a Sausage McMuffin with Egg, a Maple Oatmeal with fruit and a medium coffee with two creams and two sugars.

After the Mcbreakfast, it was time to go to Cedar Point.  We left Perryburg and approached the Ohio Turnpike.  We got on it…well, almost.  Having missed the turn, we had to get off to get back on South I-75.  Three miles later, we got on the Ohio Turnpike.  I grabbed my ticket and headed east.

Me and my brother were making good time until we hit the construction zone.  The three lanes on East I-80/90 on the Ohio Turnpike became two, branching off in opposite directions.   Regardless of what direction I took, I was stuck in one lane for the next 8 miles, crawling at 50 miles per hour, with guardrails to the left and right of me.

After the 8 miles, the two lanes converged and became three again.  Back to 70, we were on our way.  With just a few miles left, the exit was fast approaching.

After getting off the exit, I approached the toll booth and handed the man my ticket.  The toll?  $3.25.  I handed the man my toll and exited the Ohio Turnpike.

Now on North OH-4, I was Cedar Point bound, and the traffic got heavier.  This was evidenced from the high volume of traffic that I saw when I left the turnpike. Already this was the Cedar Point traffic, and I would be behind it for the rest of my trip.

After entering Sandusky, I followed all the signs to Cedar Point.  Apparently, I missed one, since I didn’t see Cedar Point after driving for a couple miles.  After getting directions at a gas station, I turned around and re-entered Sandusky.  When I saw a big sign that said “Cedar Point”, I knew that I was on the right track.  I turned on the road, and…wait.  This entrance looked a little different.  The reason for this is that it was a different path into the park.

After passing a few miles of lavish lakefront properties, the road to the left joined the main entrance from the Cedar Point Causeway.  I saw the parking lot, and the gated booths organized into multiple lanes.  After paying $15, I entered the parking lot and was directed into a parking space by a park official.

After getting situated, I got my ticket and gave my brother his.  We presented our tickets and entered the park.  We then presented our Fast Lane Plus vouchers and got our Fast Lane Plus bracelets.

After waiting for my brother to go back and get his camera, it was ride time.  Before we approached any rides, a Cedar Point employee wanted to get our picture.  We gave a normal pose and, following her suggestion, a scary one.  After taking a couple pictures, she gave us a ticket that we could present to a kiosk if we wanted to buy that picture.

After that encounter, we began our rides. Our first one was the Raptor.  After the Raptor, we went on the Gatekeeper.  But when I got to the Wicked Twister, something started to feel wrong.  I had a stomach ache.  Despite having a filling breakfast earlier, my stomach still ached.

When I finished riding the Blue Streak, it was lunch time.  I went with my brother to Coasters Drive-In and I ordered something that brutally damaged my wallet.  For just a grilled Chicken Sandwich, Fries and a bottle of water, it cost me $17.69.  With my aching stomach, I devoured my grilled Chicken sandwich and ate most of my fries.  Despite doing this, my stomach still ached.

After lunch, I continued the rides with my brother.  After Power Tower, the stomachache got even worse.  This was weird, since food usually cures a stomachache for me.  At this point, I was hesitant to go on any more rides.  Curing my stomachache was my priority.  The rides had to stop, for now.

Taking a detour from the rides, I searched the park for a First Aid Clinic.  I found one in the Camp Snoopy area.  After entering, I explained my problem and they gave me some antacids.  I chewed them and painfully waited.  Nothing.  I then called my sister and told her where I was.  After a while, she was there with her friend.  At that time, I was taking an Alka-Seltzer.  Despite drinking that citrusy water, nothing happened.   My sister mentioned drinking Vernor’s would help.  Taking that into consideration, I nodded.

One of the nurses then suggested getting a milk at Joe Cool’s cafe.  Taking her advice, I went there and ordered a milk.  No food.  Just a 12 ounce bottle of milk.  I drank it all in a few gulps.  Still no relief from my terrible stomachache.

After trying one remedy, I went to the next one: Vernor’s.  The park didn’t have Vernor’s, so I went to a Coke Freestyle station.  I bought a large cup and I filled it with Seagram’s Ginger Ale. With the ginger ale, I took slow sips until it was gone.

That’s when I made my resolve.  With 8 hours left before the park closed, I wasn’t going to let a stomachache ruin my fun.  I saw this as a trial and a sign from God to be patient.  I induced belching, trying to get all the excess gas out of my throat.  With the cause unknown,  I had it limited to either an ulcer or a mild form of food poisoning.

Determined to get back to the rides, I called my brother until I got a hold of him.  We resumed our schedule with the Corkscrew, Top Thrill Dragster and Magnum XL 200.  Despite the stomachache, I forgot about the pain on the roller coasters.  By the time I finished Gemini, I started to feel better.  The stomachache was gone.

I then waited in line for the Millennium Force, which took over an hour.  45 minutes to get to the station and another 35 minutes to get the front car.  But man was it worth it.  Clad in a tightened hoodie, coat and white gloves, the wind from going 92 miles per hour wasn’t a problem.  My hood was up, with the tassels tied in a bow.  The wind couldn’t touch me.

After the Mantis, it was dinner time.  In opting to go to the Last Chance Saloon with my brother, it was a bad idea.  The place was packed.  We both bailed and decided to eat somewhere else.  I went to a food vendor that sold pizza.  I ordered pepperoni pizza but they were out.  Kind of annoyed, I ordered the chicken strips instead with ranch sauce instead.  Second time of having chicken in a row.

When I consumed my $8.53 chicken strips, it was time for more rides.  With just two and a half hours until midnight, there wasn’t much time left.  With the wait being 30 minutes for the Maverick even with a Fast Lane, I made the tough decision of skipping the ride.  I got a Fast Lane so I wanted to get my money’s worth.  I wanted to go on as many rides as possible before the park closed.

With me and my brother skipping the Maverick, we decided to ride the Mean Streak.  There was no wait for the Mean Streak, so we went on it.  We could’ve even rode it twice or three times if we wanted to, but I wanted to ride all of my favorites one more time.

With my brother needing to extend the expiration time on his locker, we went there and he took care of that.  After that, we rode the nearby Gatekeeper again.

We then rode Top Thrill Dragster again, with our time-saving strategy of not getting the front car on any of the other coasters we went on.  Having done this with Gatekeeper, we did this with Top Thrill Dragster as well.

After getting my fill of adrenaline on the Dragster, it was time for one more ride on the Millennium Force.  We decided to get out of line when we saw the Fast Lane wait time.  We would return to it later.  With an hour left until midnight, there was one more coaster that we had to say goodbye to…

Getting out of the line to the Millennium Force, we went over and paid our last respects to the Mantis.  This would be our very last chance to ride it, and with the nostalgia overflowing inside of me, I just couldn’t pass it up.

We got in line, which really wasn’t a line at all.  With no wait, we went directly to the station and got on the very next car that showed up.  This brought me back to 1998, when I rode the heck out of the Mantis with my brother and friend.  It was right before the park closed, so we were able to ride it multiple times.

After riding it again, we decided to ride it one more time.  It truly felt like 1998 again, minus my friend who was there then to share all the thrills with me. My last ride on the Mantis…it was kind of like this.  I take the rightmost seat and stand perfectly straight to optimize my comfort.  I recite a line with my brother from the movie Alien – a line that my friend originally recited in 1998.  Each twist and turn was familiar, having rode it so many times in the past.  While the twists and turns were there, there were no cameras flashing.

After the ride was over, the reality hit me.  My final ride on the Mantis was over.  I walked over to the photo kiosk and…there were no pictures.  No merchants selling Mantis ride pictures in keychains or 5 by 3’s.  Just a dark, lonely building, ready to accept its fate.  It would become the site of the photo kiosk for the new ride, with a gift shop attached to it.

When me and my brother paid our final respects to the Mantis, we got back in line for the Millennium Force.  It would be our very last ride before the park closed.  After riding it, it was over.  We walked around, trying to find the locker site near the Gatekeeper.  We eventually found it, and my brother got our ride picture and his camera out of it.

Upon approaching the gates to the park, that’s when it dawned on me.  I never gave my ticket to the photo kiosk!  Before we left the gates, my brother entered Guest Services and asked about the ticket.  The guy directed us to a nearby kiosk, where we bought our picture that the Cedar Point employee took earlier in the day.  We chose the scary pose, since it was the best one.

We then walked back to the parking lot and spent the next 20 minutes trying to get out of the park.  With our Garmin losing its satellites, we had to wait until it got the signal back.  Once it did, we found the road that our hotel was on:  Milan road.

We stopped at a Shell High Miler gas station.  I filled up on cheap junk to curb my appetite.  7-layer dip tortilla Combos, a Reese’s Big Cup, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and a Little Debbie Fudge Round.

I pull into the Super 8, holding the reservation.  After waiting forever for the receptionist to show up, she finally does.  With the reservation in my brother’s name, he hands her it.  We get our room key and we check in.

We drive over to 220.  It was a cheap motel but it at least had a bed. We enter the room.  I eat my Flamin’ hot Cheetos and my Reese’s Big Cup and crash with the lights still on.

For Sunday, I’ll try to cut this short.  My sister invited me and my brother to breakfast at Diana’s Deli with her friend.  We get our stuff packed, check out of our rooms and head over there.  I get the Captain’s Omelet.  It was an omelet with shrimp, crab meat and asparagus.  Not bad for one of their specials.  Like Alex’s Railside at home, this was Sandusky’s version. The omelet came with homestyle potatoes and two slices of toast.

After Diana’s Deli, I went with my brother to a McDonald’s by the Sandusky Mall.  This McDonald’s had Cedar Point pictures of different roller coasters. After the scant lunch, it was time to hit the road…

We went to the Shell High Miler gas station and filled up for home.  We got back on OH-4 and headed south to the Ohio Turnpike.

We went through the turnpike and entered Michigan.  At a gas station near Ann Arbor, it was my turn to drive.  I drove to Midland, picked up a couple of groceries and headed home.

And that, everyone, is the recap. My recap of HalloWeekends at Cedar Point.

 

Muse:  Is that chapter one?  Nice book.

Thanks.

Muse:  What you said was right.  I agree with you.  When you talked about your stomachache, it was God giving you a trial.  I’m glad you handled it well.

How else would I handle it?  There’s no use in getting upset about it.

Muse:  Exactly.  I loved your patience that you demonstrated that day.

Let’s not forget the rides.

Muse:  I know.  The rides were a lot of fun.

And I now need a warning sign.  This entry is so long that someone will get hit with a wall of text.

Muse: How about something like “WARNING! This recap is really long.”

Thanks.  Be right back.

Muse:  You’re not going to…

Done!

Muse:  You posted a warning at the beginning?  That was just a joke.

And I wanted to humor you, so I went and did it.

Muse:  Okay.  It’s time for dinner!  You’re probably hungry too.

I am.  Time to land this thing!

Muse:  I’ll see you later.  It’s dinnertime…

 

Overall, I really enjoyed Cedar Point, despite having a stomachache for half a day.  With my morning shift over, I have another one tomorrow, so I can’t stay up too late.

Today’s high is going to be 68 degrees and the silver lining is providing this Cedar Point recap.

To those of you who like long profound vacation recaps, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.

 

Muse:  That warning sign is silly.  I can’t believe he’s still keeping it…