G-Force.

Thanks to the Ohio State Alumni Association...

We got to enjoy a "private" day at Cedar Point!! AKA: The Best Amusement Park in the World. 


(seeing as OSU is one of the top 10 largest universities in the country, the number of Ohio State alumni is also rather large, so I'm not sure it really counts as private.)

However, it was still pretty empty compared to my past visits to the park. Normally, we spend the majority of our day waiting in long lines and only make it on a few rides. But this time we got to ride every single ride (on our list), some multiple times, most in the front row, and even left the park 2 hours early! Anyone who has been to Cedar Point during "peak season" will really appreciate this view... NO LINES!!

Our day included:

• Top Thrill Dragster (front row)
• Millennium Force (twice, once in the front row, all-time favorite ride)
• Gatekeeper (brand new ride, front row, a little over-rated/slow, but fun & unique)
• Maverick (new-ish ride, SUPER crazy fast, front row)
• Magnum (front row & probably never again... it was painfully jerky)
• Raptor (another favorite ride, front row, literally walked right up the stairs and onto the ride with ZERO wait time!)
• Power Tower (twice on both sides)
• Wicked Twister (walked right on, front row)
• Max Air (surprisingly fun, worth the 5 minute wait)
• Blue Streak (classic, not too jerky, with Aaron Craft!! I totally did a double take several times because he was in our cart directly behind us. I thought it was him, but wasn't 100% sure. Then afterwards his lap bar was stuck and he couldn't get out. So he asked me for help and I said, "just push down and then pull up!" It was magical. I was star-struck. The end.)
• Bumper Cars (twice, Husband's favorite) 
• Unlimited Drink Wristband (Coke Zero, Fanta, Cherry Coke, Lemonade, etc. All.Day.Long! I was in heaven.)
• All of the above for... $34! Totally worth the money. If you like roller coaster thrills, it beats Disney and Six Flags by a long shot. 

The only ride we missed was the Mantis, but it was closed all day for some reason. I remember it being a little jerky and painful anyway, so I wasn't really disappointed.

Funny story of the day: The weather forecast called for rain so we were prepared and brought an umbrella. Some of the bigger rides make you put your bag in a locker, so we decided to cram everything in our pockets, including the umbrella. During our second ride on the Millennium Force, it started to sprinkle. Our ride came to a stop on the tracks, just a few feet before the indoor shelter. Then it started to rain harder. A worker came over and said we had to wait on the tracks while they removed one of the trains from the track. We were trapped... and it continued to rain. Everyone was complaining and the people waiting in line along the fence were poking fun at our predicament. After about 5 minutes, the light bulb went on. We have an umbrella! So Husband popped it open to protect us from the rain. As he did, the crowd in line went crazy. They started cheering, clapping, pointing, taking pictures, and laughing at the random couple, trapped on a roller coaster, with an umbrella. Later in the day we even ran into a couple of people who pointed to us and said, "Hey! It's the umbrella couple!" We were kind of famous.

We also got to ride a few rides with my brothers, Matt & Ben, plus my niece & nephews: McKayla, Isaiah,  Caleb & Gabe! I can't believe how brave they were. My first time on the Millennium Force I was 14 years old... and I cried. These kids were in elementary school and rode all the big rides, even the Top Thrill Dragster! Such champs.

It was such a great day! But let's be honest... the highlight of my whole day at Cedar Point was still this: