Saturday, August 28
Vacation Report
That's right folks, it vacation time for the Dren!
This is a group post for the whole experience, as I didn't have access to the Internet for five days, that is the longest I have gone without e-mail and Slashdot in years.
This was also my first vacation with the boy. Let me tell you, there is nothing like traveling with an eight month old. My parents were also along on this journey. They watched the boy while we played.
Here is the travel log:
Thursday, August 19th, 2004:
11:30 AM - Get a call from mom. I thought you said Southwest flight 1255 left at 5:50 PM. Yeah, mom, that's what they told me when I called last week to check the reservations. Turns out the attendant told me wrong, the flight leaves at 5:00 PM instead. Mom had called to double check the flight information. Glad she did, that would have screwed up the whole trip because we would have shown up at the airport at 4:30 pm, and likely not made the flight.
11:45 AM - Paniced phone calls to folks who we had appointments with, cancelled a 1:00 PM appointment, made sure the dogs were going to be back from the groomer on time to get them to my brother. Got mom to pick up dad instead of us picking up dad.
2:30 PM - Leave the house. Got all the luggage, and all the trip plans. Have two dogs on board, with their beds and food.
3:00 PM - Meet my brother at his work as he is leaving for the day, pass the dogs on to him. He has two boys, 7 and 2, they love having our dogs over and playing with them.
3:30 PM - Arrive at Hobby Airport. Use Southwest's rapid checkin, had some problems, and got some help from the attendant. Went on to security. You can't go through security yet, you don't have the special boarding pass for your infant, you have to go down to the "Information" line and wait a while in the line, then get your special boarding pass. Ok, went and waited in that line, complained to the personel there that we were not told of the special requirement by the staff at the rapid check-in.
5:50 PM - Waiting at the gate, Mom and Dad arrived a while ago. No sign of the plane.
6:10 PM - Plane finally shows up. We board and take off shortly. Southwest does do a good job of turning the plane around quicly. Noticed that when we take off, we head nearly due south, then head east along the coast. Since this flight is to Chicago, then to Cleveland, this seems strage. Not to long after noticing this, the pilot comes on the PA. Turns out there is some really bad weather north of Houston, and that is why the plane was late getting into Houston, and why we are going to be even later getting to Chicago.
11:30 PM - Arrive Cleveland. Got off the plane ok, and got our luggage. Cleveland's airport has this unified rental car depot. When we got out to the pickup, the first van was full, so we headed to a second van. Remember WE is me, my wife, our eight month old boy and my parents. Plus all our luggage. So, get to the second van, the door opens and out comes the driver. Here is what he asks, "What is wrong with the other transport?", in a really nasty manner pointing to the other van. So I answered, "It's full. What is wrong with this transport?" Then he went into the tirade about how two vans cannot be loading at the same time. Great, the first person I meet in Cleveland is a dick. After he shut-up, the other van pulled out, and he let us on his. When we got to the Budget Rental counter, we tried to complain, but they had no way to complain about the drivers.
Friday August 20, 2004
12:45 AM - Arrive at Cedar Point. Check into a smallish suite in the Sandcastle Suites. Got the boy down and got to sleep.
7:00 AM - Woke up early, no particular reason, I just do that. Got dressed and ready to hit the park.
9:30 AM - Hit the park. It was raining. Figured nothing would be open, but here is a surprise, Cedar Point keeps many, if not most of it's rides running in the rain, so here is what the wife and I rode, while mom and pop babysat the boy, in as clsoe to the order that we rode them as we can recall.
1. Millennum Force - This was my first "Giga Coaster". It rocked. 300 Foot drop. Wow, it was amazing. Do have a funny side story about the guy that must be the dumbest I'll see on this or any other vacation. We were close to the boarding platform when the whole ride shut down, with one train about 1/3 the way up the lift. After about a 45 minute delay, we discovered that some dumb-ass had UNBUCKLED HIS SEAT BELT. The emergency safetys kicked in and stopped the ride. When it eventually did run, the park police were there to remove him from the property.
2. Millennum Force - Only thing better than a Giga Coaster once? Giga Coaster twice!
Purchased two really cool blue Cedar Point rain ponchos.
3. Iron Dragon
4. Mantis
5. Disaster Transport
6. Space Spiral
7. Cable Cars
Noonish - Had some mini-corndogs and hand-cut fries. Went back to room, took a three hour nap.
Fourish - Headed back to the park.
8. Wicked Twister
9. Raptor
10. Magnum XL 200
11. Millennum Force
8:00 PM - Top Thrill Dragster had not opened yet, and we were tired and hungry, so we headed to dinner.
9:00 PM - Had Pizza at the Pizza place in the Breakers Hotel. It was some damn good pizza, was dissapointed that I got full after three slices.
10:00 PM - Top Thrill Dragster was running as we left the resturant, stood and watched it as we waited for the Resort Shuttle. Looked really cool. Too bad I was full of pizza, and the park was closed anyway.
Saturday August 21, 2004
We all went to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, OH. Then had a snack at the Hard Rock Cafe before heading back to Cedar Point. Had dinner that night at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que, which is in the Marina at Cedar Point..
Sunday August 22, 2004
4:30 AM - Wake up to mainiacs in the next room slamming doors and throwing each other into the walls. Called Hotel Secuirty.
4:35 AM - My wife opens the door to our room, and a naked teenage boy runs down the hall in into the room next door.
4:40 AM - Hotel Security shows up. We tell them what has been going on. He calls in Cedar Point PD. They show up pretty quickly, promise remove the 6 drunk teenagers from the room next door, and that we won't be disturbed again.
6:00 AM - Really can't sleep. Got up and got dressed, went and watched the sun rise over Lake Eirie drinking the complementary coffee in the lobby.
9:00 AM - Lined up at the gate waiting for it to open, we see Top Thrill Dragster is up and running, as soon as we got into the park, we went straight to Top Thrill Dragster. Here is what we rode that day:
1. Top Thrill Dragster - 9:45 AM - Only a 45 minute wait. We have been told that the average wait is about 4 hours, so this appears to be a pretty good deal. We also rode in the front seat. There just are not words enough to describe this ride. It is big, fast, scary and fun as hell! It kinda goes like this - They roll your car down to the starting section, and there are starting lights like at a dragstrip. If you are in the front car, you will see the catapult shuttle coming back to latch into your car. Then the car shifts forward and back a couple of times, like a real dragster staging for launch. Next, the breaking fins descend to below the track. Next thing you notice, the launch sequence lights are on and counting down. By the time you realize these lights have run, you are moving fast, really fast. The launch speeds on the rides before ours were consistently between 122-125 MPH. Now, by the time you realize just how freaking fast you are moving, you are heading up the hill. By the time you realize you are heading up the hill, you are rotating 90 degrees to the right. By the time you realize that you have rotated, the coaster is slowing, and if you are not holding on, you are floating up out of your seat as the coaster tops the hill. Just about the time you realize that you are at the top of the hill, you are flying down the hill, spiraling through 270 degrees of turns. Scary turns, all you can see is the support posts that look like they are going to rip your head off. Finally the coaster curves back to the ground and brakes. A couple of seconds after it slows you realize that the folks in the queue are shouting at you, and you shout something inane back. And start thinking of a way to talk them out of making you get off the coaster.
2. Mean Streak
3. Cedar Creek Mine Ride
4. Gemini
Noonish - Lunch - Really subpar burgers for way too much money at the diner off the midway - Return to room, drop off photo from Top Thrill Dragster and souvineers we purchased that morning.
1:00 PM - Wait in line 1 hour to get a 5-6 PM Freeway handstamp for Top Thrill Dragster
5. Wildcat
6. Gemini
7. Blue Streak
8. Magnum XL 200
9. Top Thrill Dragster
10. Wicked Twister
Dinner - We had Brautwurst at the German Beer Gardens right by the main entrance, it was very tasty.
11. Gemini
12. Power Tower 'Up'
13. Gemini
9:30 PM - Both Millennum Force and Top Thrill Dragster have 2 hour waits. We're tired, head to the suite to pass out.
Monday, August 23, 2004
Flew home from Cleveland via Nashville, nothing exciting happened.
This is a group post for the whole experience, as I didn't have access to the Internet for five days, that is the longest I have gone without e-mail and Slashdot in years.
This was also my first vacation with the boy. Let me tell you, there is nothing like traveling with an eight month old. My parents were also along on this journey. They watched the boy while we played.
Here is the travel log:
Thursday, August 19th, 2004:
11:30 AM - Get a call from mom. I thought you said Southwest flight 1255 left at 5:50 PM. Yeah, mom, that's what they told me when I called last week to check the reservations. Turns out the attendant told me wrong, the flight leaves at 5:00 PM instead. Mom had called to double check the flight information. Glad she did, that would have screwed up the whole trip because we would have shown up at the airport at 4:30 pm, and likely not made the flight.
11:45 AM - Paniced phone calls to folks who we had appointments with, cancelled a 1:00 PM appointment, made sure the dogs were going to be back from the groomer on time to get them to my brother. Got mom to pick up dad instead of us picking up dad.
2:30 PM - Leave the house. Got all the luggage, and all the trip plans. Have two dogs on board, with their beds and food.
3:00 PM - Meet my brother at his work as he is leaving for the day, pass the dogs on to him. He has two boys, 7 and 2, they love having our dogs over and playing with them.
3:30 PM - Arrive at Hobby Airport. Use Southwest's rapid checkin, had some problems, and got some help from the attendant. Went on to security. You can't go through security yet, you don't have the special boarding pass for your infant, you have to go down to the "Information" line and wait a while in the line, then get your special boarding pass. Ok, went and waited in that line, complained to the personel there that we were not told of the special requirement by the staff at the rapid check-in.
5:50 PM - Waiting at the gate, Mom and Dad arrived a while ago. No sign of the plane.
6:10 PM - Plane finally shows up. We board and take off shortly. Southwest does do a good job of turning the plane around quicly. Noticed that when we take off, we head nearly due south, then head east along the coast. Since this flight is to Chicago, then to Cleveland, this seems strage. Not to long after noticing this, the pilot comes on the PA. Turns out there is some really bad weather north of Houston, and that is why the plane was late getting into Houston, and why we are going to be even later getting to Chicago.
11:30 PM - Arrive Cleveland. Got off the plane ok, and got our luggage. Cleveland's airport has this unified rental car depot. When we got out to the pickup, the first van was full, so we headed to a second van. Remember WE is me, my wife, our eight month old boy and my parents. Plus all our luggage. So, get to the second van, the door opens and out comes the driver. Here is what he asks, "What is wrong with the other transport?", in a really nasty manner pointing to the other van. So I answered, "It's full. What is wrong with this transport?" Then he went into the tirade about how two vans cannot be loading at the same time. Great, the first person I meet in Cleveland is a dick. After he shut-up, the other van pulled out, and he let us on his. When we got to the Budget Rental counter, we tried to complain, but they had no way to complain about the drivers.
Friday August 20, 2004
12:45 AM - Arrive at Cedar Point. Check into a smallish suite in the Sandcastle Suites. Got the boy down and got to sleep.
7:00 AM - Woke up early, no particular reason, I just do that. Got dressed and ready to hit the park.
9:30 AM - Hit the park. It was raining. Figured nothing would be open, but here is a surprise, Cedar Point keeps many, if not most of it's rides running in the rain, so here is what the wife and I rode, while mom and pop babysat the boy, in as clsoe to the order that we rode them as we can recall.
1. Millennum Force - This was my first "Giga Coaster". It rocked. 300 Foot drop. Wow, it was amazing. Do have a funny side story about the guy that must be the dumbest I'll see on this or any other vacation. We were close to the boarding platform when the whole ride shut down, with one train about 1/3 the way up the lift. After about a 45 minute delay, we discovered that some dumb-ass had UNBUCKLED HIS SEAT BELT. The emergency safetys kicked in and stopped the ride. When it eventually did run, the park police were there to remove him from the property.
2. Millennum Force - Only thing better than a Giga Coaster once? Giga Coaster twice!
Purchased two really cool blue Cedar Point rain ponchos.
3. Iron Dragon
4. Mantis
5. Disaster Transport
6. Space Spiral
7. Cable Cars
Noonish - Had some mini-corndogs and hand-cut fries. Went back to room, took a three hour nap.
Fourish - Headed back to the park.
8. Wicked Twister
9. Raptor
10. Magnum XL 200
11. Millennum Force
8:00 PM - Top Thrill Dragster had not opened yet, and we were tired and hungry, so we headed to dinner.
9:00 PM - Had Pizza at the Pizza place in the Breakers Hotel. It was some damn good pizza, was dissapointed that I got full after three slices.
10:00 PM - Top Thrill Dragster was running as we left the resturant, stood and watched it as we waited for the Resort Shuttle. Looked really cool. Too bad I was full of pizza, and the park was closed anyway.
Saturday August 21, 2004
We all went to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, OH. Then had a snack at the Hard Rock Cafe before heading back to Cedar Point. Had dinner that night at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que, which is in the Marina at Cedar Point..
Sunday August 22, 2004
4:30 AM - Wake up to mainiacs in the next room slamming doors and throwing each other into the walls. Called Hotel Secuirty.
4:35 AM - My wife opens the door to our room, and a naked teenage boy runs down the hall in into the room next door.
4:40 AM - Hotel Security shows up. We tell them what has been going on. He calls in Cedar Point PD. They show up pretty quickly, promise remove the 6 drunk teenagers from the room next door, and that we won't be disturbed again.
6:00 AM - Really can't sleep. Got up and got dressed, went and watched the sun rise over Lake Eirie drinking the complementary coffee in the lobby.
9:00 AM - Lined up at the gate waiting for it to open, we see Top Thrill Dragster is up and running, as soon as we got into the park, we went straight to Top Thrill Dragster. Here is what we rode that day:
1. Top Thrill Dragster - 9:45 AM - Only a 45 minute wait. We have been told that the average wait is about 4 hours, so this appears to be a pretty good deal. We also rode in the front seat. There just are not words enough to describe this ride. It is big, fast, scary and fun as hell! It kinda goes like this - They roll your car down to the starting section, and there are starting lights like at a dragstrip. If you are in the front car, you will see the catapult shuttle coming back to latch into your car. Then the car shifts forward and back a couple of times, like a real dragster staging for launch. Next, the breaking fins descend to below the track. Next thing you notice, the launch sequence lights are on and counting down. By the time you realize these lights have run, you are moving fast, really fast. The launch speeds on the rides before ours were consistently between 122-125 MPH. Now, by the time you realize just how freaking fast you are moving, you are heading up the hill. By the time you realize you are heading up the hill, you are rotating 90 degrees to the right. By the time you realize that you have rotated, the coaster is slowing, and if you are not holding on, you are floating up out of your seat as the coaster tops the hill. Just about the time you realize that you are at the top of the hill, you are flying down the hill, spiraling through 270 degrees of turns. Scary turns, all you can see is the support posts that look like they are going to rip your head off. Finally the coaster curves back to the ground and brakes. A couple of seconds after it slows you realize that the folks in the queue are shouting at you, and you shout something inane back. And start thinking of a way to talk them out of making you get off the coaster.
2. Mean Streak
3. Cedar Creek Mine Ride
4. Gemini
Noonish - Lunch - Really subpar burgers for way too much money at the diner off the midway - Return to room, drop off photo from Top Thrill Dragster and souvineers we purchased that morning.
1:00 PM - Wait in line 1 hour to get a 5-6 PM Freeway handstamp for Top Thrill Dragster
5. Wildcat
6. Gemini
7. Blue Streak
8. Magnum XL 200
9. Top Thrill Dragster
10. Wicked Twister
Dinner - We had Brautwurst at the German Beer Gardens right by the main entrance, it was very tasty.
11. Gemini
12. Power Tower 'Up'
13. Gemini
9:30 PM - Both Millennum Force and Top Thrill Dragster have 2 hour waits. We're tired, head to the suite to pass out.
Monday, August 23, 2004
Flew home from Cleveland via Nashville, nothing exciting happened.
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