MAVERICK

MAVERICK

Maverick,  Cedar Point

This is one of the oddest-looking coasters I have ever seen or ridden.  The short, bullet-shaped trains consist of six rows with a 12 rider capacity, for which reason there are multiple trains.  My first attempt to ride turned into a disaster.  Maverick is a motor-launched coaster and halfway up the lift hill, the launch system failed, sending the train back to the lower part of the hill. (Apparently rollbacks on this coaster have occurred on a number of occasions.)  So I sat there on the lift hill, harnessed in, baking in the hot sun for a good 40 minutes until ride operators were given the go-ahead to assist riders in getting off the train. (At least we were compensated for the inconvenience with a no-wait pass for Millennium and Dragster and the opportunity to get back on Maverick immediately once it was up and running.) 

When I finally did get to ride, it proved to be an absolutely amazing ride.   Wow! First you get launched from 0 to 70mph up the lift hill and drop 100 feet at a 95-degree angle – and at that angle, you can really feel the drop.   From that point it’s a series of drops and banked turns (one 92 degrees) with a couple of really cool, startling but delectable inversions.  Deserving of special mention is the twisted horseshoe roll, a combination corkscrew and zero-g roll.  (At the time of writing, there are only two coasters in existence with this element.) As the train comes around a right-banked curve, plumes of water shoot up and make a sound almost like a pistol shot although I did not notice this while riding.   There are so many sudden changes of direction at such a relentless pace that the rider can get a little beaten up - this coaster is definitely somewhat on the rough side - although not to the extent of in any way detracting from the ride experience.  The airtime on this coaster is incredible.  And as if all of this weren’t enough, three quarters of the way through the ride, the train enters a tunnel, there’s a short brake run and you get launched again!  Maverick is by far the wildest coaster I have ever ridden.  5 out of 5 stars.  For more information about rides at Cedar Point, visit www.cedarpoint.com/

TOP THRILL DRAGSTER

TOP THRILL DRAGSTER

Top Thrill Dragster, Cedar Point

Hydraulic launch coasters belong in a category by themselves.  On my first visit to Cedar Point last year, someone who struck up a conversation with me said he thought that Top Thrill Dragster was better than Kingda Ka.  Having now ridden both, I wouldn’t necessarily agree or disagree.   The two coasters are so similar in design and the ride experience is so parallel that it’s a toss-up – although the fact that Kingda Ka has the additional element of a 100-foot hill after the descent from the top would tend to give it a slight edge.   Anyway, Dragster is not a ride for the faint of heart.  The acceleration from 0 to 120 mph in a matter of seconds is enough to shock you almost senseless or give you a heart in the throat sensation along with a huge rush of adrenaline.   It’s a feeling of omigod, here we go and it happens so fast that you don’t even have time to think about it.   Before you know it, you’re rocketing up the 420-foot hill, twisting 90 degrees before reaching the top.  Then it’s back down with another twist and you cross the finish line.   It’s over in a flash; according to official stats, the ride time is only 17 seconds.   But it’s a very, very intense 17 seconds and quite an experience.   

 Given the extreme height and speed of Dragster, I was surprised to find that unlike Kingda Ka, which uses over the shoulder harnesses, Dragster uses only a lap bar and seat belt as a restraint.   But it works  - except that I found my elbows getting knocked about whereas this didn't happen on Kingda Ka because of the harness.  One thing I particularly liked about this ride is that it’s wide out in the open and even has a grandstand where people can sit and observe, like a real drag race.  In terms of theming, Dragster has it all over Kingda Ka but the theming doesn't necessarily make for a better ride experience.  One thing I didn’t like about the ride is that apart from the spectacular launch, nothing really happens, so that I didn’t find it to be as satisfying a ride experience as Millennium or Maverick.  3 ½ out of 5 stars.  For more information about rides at Cedar Point, visit

www.cedarpoint.com/

MEAN STREAK

MEAN STREAK

Mean Streak, Cedar Point

I had heard conflicting reports about this coaster before riding it.  It was good, it was awful, it was rough to the point of being painful, it was lacking in airtime, etc.    When I first went to Cedar Point, Mean Streak was closed for the season and now that I’ve had an opportunity to ride it, I would have to say that I wasn’t missing much.   There is hardly any line to ride and that says a lot. I agree that it’s lacking in airtime – surprisingly, considering its massive proportions.   With an initial drop of 155 feet, you would expect more in the way of thrills.  (The first drop on The Voyage is only about 12 feet longer but on that coaster,  it's a real thrill.) I didn’t feel much of anything on the first drop.  What the ride does offer is a jerky circuit of the lengthy track for almost 2 ½ minutes.  It’s a very, very bumpy ride.  And I would imagine that in the back of the train, it’s pretty rough – although I didn’t notice that when riding in the front.  Because the ride is rather long, I found myself wondering how long I’d been riding with my seat belt unfastened.  (When the train returned to the station, I was horrified to discover that the seat belt had come loose – but because the primary restraint is a lap bar, no harm no foul.)  Mean Streak isn’t a bad ride and at times was kind of fun; it just isn’t a particularly good ride.  2 ½ out of 5 stars.  For more information about rides at Cedar Point, visit www.cedarpoint.com/