Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point

We were able to do a Labor Day Weekend trip up to Pittsburgh and Sandusky this year; of course, the main reason being Steel Vengeance... though personally I've never been to Kennywood and always wanted to go. More on that later..

So first the good:

1. The first drop is incredible. It really feels higher than 200 feet and falling forever.

2. There's an infinite amount of airtime. And it's El Toro-like forceful.

3. The inversions are silky smooth.

4. The final 1/3 of the ride is the most disorienting experience ever, in a good way. When going through the wooden structure, I really couldn't tell if I was upside down.

5. The lighting made it look like old Mean Streak.

Now the bad:

1. The mid-course brake run hurts like hell, pretty sure I heard my neck crack.

2. The final banked bumps at the end are just excessive, reminded me of J2 for some reason.

3. If they are still running a two-train operation, don't even bother. With the Fast Lane Plussers, you'll end up waiting over two hours. And Cedar Fair still hasn't instituted a single rider line for some reason. Trains operated at about 80% over the weekend.

4. A queue that is almost entirely in the sun.

5. Cash-Grab: you're not allowed to bring cellphones, not even in zippered pockets. All cellphones must be placed in a locker which isn't even free for your ride. I expect this highway robbery from Six Flags, not Cedar Fair.

Onto the ride..

You pull out and around two little bumps before the lifthill. Your head pops off as you speed down the first drop into a tiny airtime hill. After two reverse bank turns, it's into the first inversion. Some hard banks to the right brings you through your next inversion with a reverse twist. That leads you to the painful mid-course. From there it's some nice solid airtime through the structure with an inversion leading into the final melee of elements. The melee has some the aforementioned disorientation, a great time overall. You head into the final banked bumps before heading into the station.

Where does it rank?

Right now, I'd still put it behind Millennium Force. Brittany has it as #1, but I like the operating capacity and overall re-ridability of MF... there's no way either of us would be able to ride Steel Vengeance in a marathon. And neither of us could afford it anyway, as it costs $2 to rent a locker every time you ride. Sorry, still a little salty about that. Just don't understand the system Cedar Point has in place. We had our water bottle confiscated on Magnum, but then Maverick had bins for you to throw your stuffed animals? What the crap is that..

Anyway, got to get on everything at Cedar Point before making our way back to Kennywood. Kennywood was in the Pittsburgh Gazette recently for having piss-poor operations because all of their college aged workers went back to school. As a result, Kennywood's been giving everyone free tickets for next year as well as letting them enjoy the day at the park... good deal!

As far as the park goes, it's ok. Thunderbolt front and Steel Phantom back rank up with the best out there. Racer was kind of forgettable but Jack Rabbit was fun. The new coaster was under some season-ending maintenance and Exterminator had like a 10 hour wait for some reason. The haunted mansion there was closed, really wanted to check that out. Same with Garfield's Nightmare, whatever that was. Guess we'll just have to come back next year! Anyway, Halloween Horror Nights starts Friday, 'tis the season.