One of the scary scary roller coasters...
All the time I've lived in Chicago I have really wanted to visit Cedar Point, which is located in Sandusky, Ohio. I LOVE Roller Coasters...and growing up where I did, there just weren't many to ride on. Six Flags was in CA and in WA but we had none in Oregon. So, when I moved to Chicago...I was extremely happy. Not only do we have Six Flags, Great America to our North, we also have Cedar Point, five hours to east. My roommate is from Ohio and when I told her that I wanted to go to Cedar Point, she happily worked all the details out. It was SOOOO much fun. We ended up staying on the grounds so we were able to enter the park an hour early and it didn't matter how late we stayed, because we didn't have to drive home that same night.
The Mean Streak...which wasn't that mean!
It was definitely the smart choice. The park was pretty crowded, but it didn't matter. I had the time of my life! We got in the park at 9:30 a.m. and didn't leave until 12:00!! In that time span we rode 13 rides (we did have to spend a LOT of time in line for rides instead of ON the rides themselves...but I couldn't complain cause all the rides were totally worth it).
My favorite ride was a tie between Millenium Force and the new Maverick. The Maverick was voted America's Favorite Roller Coaster in 2007 and I can see why! The first drop was 95 degrees and at one point you go from 0 to 70 mph in three seconds! Amazing and TOTALLY worth the wait. We went on this one twice it was so much fun! Because we stayed on the park, which seriously, I recommend again, we were able to leave the park, go have lunch, rest up and then head back to the park again. It really was great to get refreshed and revitalized to go back out in the park. We also took a break for dinner and walked on the shore of Lake Erie, which was pretty cool. I put my feet in...so now I've been to TWO great lakes! Yay!
All in all, if you come to Chicago for more than just a weekend and you LOVE roller coasters and you don't mind driving for five hours...I say GO TO CEDAR POINT. It will change your life. :)
A little break from Screaming
We were really smart this trip and decided to pack a lunch and then get dinner at the park. What we had forgotten was that there was a TGI Friday's near the park, which was awesome for us. We went on the assumption that you would have to pay at least $20 for dinner in the Park...and why not pay $20 for food that you at least knew what you were eating and what the quality was up front. Needless to say, because of the location, it was quite crowded. We were greeted with a 45 minute wait for a party of 5 but decided that we could wait. We just walked along Lake Erie which actually was really nice. Once we got inside, we realized that there were quite a few tables open so that didn't make us too happy that we had to wait that long. The servers are all from different countries, which makes this TGI Fridays a little different than others I have been to before. The food was solid, the room was nicely air coniditioned and again, it was a nice break from screaming down roller coasters (or hearing others scream down roller coasters). I recommend this place!
Close Proximity to the Roller Coast
I think that staying at the Sandcastle Suites was one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. I've wanted to visit Cedar Point (America's Roller Coast - Theme Park) since I moved to Chicago 6 years ago (you can read my travel blog about the great time I had there). I went with my roommate, and her five family members. Some of the perks of staying on the grounds of Cedar Point is that you get free parking, you get to enter in to the park 1 hour before everyone else, you have lakefront property, you are only a 10-15 minute walk away from the Park and best of all, you don't have to drive home after a long day at the Park. The Sandcastle Suites had a really nice pool area with many tables with umbrellas to eat at. Next time I have to remember to bring my swimsuit! After spending 14.5 hours in the park, it was great to have a bed to come home to. We split the room cost 6 ways and it was $50 a person. Not bad considering we also got a big discount on our Cedar Point entry tickets! All in all, I definitely recommend this place to stay if you're going up to Cedar Point for the day!
