u/Chaseism

Preamble:

I had to put my dog down this past weekend. Her liver and gallbladder were both failing, likely due to a cancer that is common with her breed. I needed to get out of the house and thought about heading up to Cedar Point. Being around genuinely happy people always cheers me up, even if I don't speak to those people directly. My partner encouraged me to go, so I did. I arrived at the park at noon.

The Food:

I stopped by BeatBackQue and I'm still a big fan of this place. I got their pulled pork, fries, and cornbread. The woman working sides gave me so many fries, I couldn't eat them all. I wonder if she saw something of the comments here about portions. Even still, I didn't need BBQ sauce or anything. The meat was tender and seasoned just fine.

The Staff:

I rarely come to Cedar Point in July and August due to how busy the park is. Because of this, I only usually see ride ops at the beginning of the season, when they are learning, or at the end of the season when they have a smaller crew due to students going back to school. It was pretty cool seeing the ride ops during peak season because even on a Monday, they were absolutely cranking. I'll comment more specifically on the ride reviews themselves, but once again...anyone that says Cedar Point has bad ops needs to visit Hersheypark.

The Coasters (in order):

• Gatekeeper: I haven't ridden Gatekeeper in quite some time because I just don't find it interesting. I can understand the appeal...it's a incredibly graceful, smooth, and floaty coaster, but it lacks intensity or unique elements to make me want to ride it. I always describe it as lumbering due to how wing coasters have to navigate their course. With that being said, I quite enjoyed my ride this time. Nothing changed about the ride, but for whatever reason, I enjoyed it's soft positive and negative g's. Because I sat towards the front, I was pushed into each keyhole, which likely added to my enjoyment quite a bit. Maybe I was a bit soft that day, but I might give Gatekeeper another try when I'm in the park.
• Magnum XL-200: King Magnum is just as great as ever. I rode twice, once in the back and once in the magic seat. I wanted to see if I preferred one over the other and honestly, they both were strong. The magic seat offered a far more intense ride, especially on the way back to the station. The back offered more airtime, specifically on those initial drops...but the bunny hills on the way back were far less intense. Something else I realized is that while everyone else complains about the lapbar, what gets me are the zipper pouches. They dig into my knees and hurt like a mother fucker. My second ride, I zipped the pocket and it dramatically improved my ride. The ride ops were killing it with dispatches. As one train was coming back to the station, they ops were sending the second one out. King Magnum will live forever.
• Steel Vengeance: Two rides on Steel Vengeance. I used to have a real issue with the ending of the ride. To steal from u/dbruington, the RMC heimlich maneuver just isn't fun for me. But while the coaster was running particularly well, it just didn't bother me much this time. I felt so good after the first ride that I hopped back in line and rode again. But two is about the max I can do. Shout to out the crew here too. They were doing countdowns no only for people to get beyond the air gates, but also a countdown for the crew. I sent my buddy a VM saying I would not have the energy or stamina to work on Steel Vengeance. It's just awesome to see ops taking ride in getting riders moving.
• Maverick: Still an incredible coaster and one of my favorites in the park. The FL+ line was tiny so I originally planned on riding it twice. But the ride broke down for a few moments right before I got on and in that time, the line got quite a bit longer. I skipped my second ride, but the ride ops did a great job of getting folks through as quickly as they could.
• Millennium Force: My buddy Tyler said it best...what makes Millennium Force such an incredible and thrilling ride is that you get a true sense of speed when you're riding it. A lot of folks talk about its lack of elements, which is a result in the era is was created in. But what I love about that lack of elements is how you can absolutely see and feel how fast you're going. And I just find that insanely exhilarating. Coming out of the turnaround into the tunnel just gets me every time. I rode twice because I still remember when this thing had a 4 hour line back in 2000.
• Siren's Curse: The coaster we didn't need, but I'm glad we have. I will continue to say that SC make the best argument on how on board audio and decent theming can really supercharge the coaster experience. Even though Maverick is a more intense experience, you cannot help but to have fun on Siren't Curse. I rode twice, once towards the front and the second in the middle.
• Top Thrill 2: I ended my day with two rides on Top Thrill 2. Cedar Point needs to do something about the locker situation on this ride because we are now two years into this coaster and the lockers feel amateur in a park that is apparently so premium that it deserves its own rules on All Season Fast Lane+. But getting beyond that, TT2 is still one of my top favorite coasters in the park. I could marathon it all day. And of course the crew absolutely cranks those trains out. As soon as a train clears the top hat, they are dispatching the next.

One more thing...

Whenever I venture to parks solo, it's usually because I want to be alone. As I said above, I wanted to be around people that were just having a good time and I got that...but I also got something else. Being a solo rider, a lot of people I was paired with chatted with me. On Gatekeeper, I sat with a grandmother from Iowa who was visiting Cedar Point with her grandson and his friend. She said she visited the year before and had so much fun that she brought her grandson and his buddy for their first trip. She talked about how they each love different coasters and how that matched their personalities. The woman I sat next to Steel Vengeance asked how I was able to keep my hands up the entire time and I said, "I have really great core strength and you need it on this thing!"

My favorite was Top Thrill 2. I rounded the corner to take the stairs to the station and was met by a couple with their son. They were also visiting Cedar Point for the first time and was just insanely excited to be there. They had visited our neighbors at Kings Island the previous day and apparently it was packed. They were excited to ride TT2 and I told them to try to get seats in the back to get the full length of the spike. The dad said he absolutely didn't want to do that. We chatted a bit more before they were sent to the front of the train. I was also sent to the front of the train, but I was a train behind them. Still, I got seated with a guy who was also riding for the first time with his girlfriend and son. Hearing him scream and laugh the entire ride made me to the same. After that ride, I started walking to get back in line when I feel a tap on my shoulder. It was the first guy I chatted with in line with his wife and son. They all gushed about how much they absolutely loved the ride. It was like seeing a kid talk about their first coaster, he was so fucking pumped. We parted ways after a few moments saying, "it was great meeting you." I got my last ride on TT2 and went home.

I'm sad my dog died, but I'm so glad I got to share just a few moments with all the people I met. They will never know it, but their kindness and excitement about being in the park honestly helped me heal a bit. It's often easy for us to look at the flaws at Cedar Point without remembering the love we have for amusement parks. Seeing it through non-enthusiasts eyes for even a few moments reminded me why I love Cedar Point and amusement parks in general.

Ride on...

Last month, I made this post asking if anyone had taken Zepbound to assist in a cut. And while I did get a few responses, I didn't get very many. So, now that I'm almost 8 weeks into taking the medication myself, I figured I'd tell y'all about my experience so far.

Quick Preamble:

• I lost over 70 pounds the old-fashioned way from Nov. 2021 to Oct. 2022 going from 294lbs to 221lbs.
• I started seriously lifting after I lost the weight and gained a lot of muscle.
• I created an artificial ceiling for my weight that triggers a cut. If my weight goes above 235lbs, I need to cut to get under that weight. This turned out to be a great number because my clothes feel uncomfortable around 240lbs. I'm most comfortable when my weight is between 228lbs to 233lbs.
• I still track my food all these years later.

Overall, Zepbound has fundamentally changed my relationship with food. I would often describe that relationship as addiction. I used to think about food all the time, even after losing weight. And it took a great deal of energy, willpower, and routine to stop me from overeating. But I fell short multiple times. And while my weight never increased passed 245lbs, it did go above that ceiling I created for myself.

Things I've noticed:

• Hunger feels different. In the past, hunger was an uncomfortable feeling that needed to take priority. It was like an extremely annoying itch that I wasn't allowed to scratch. Now, while I do feel hungry, it doesn't feel important. The need to satiate that hunger is diminished quite a bit. This feeling was so strong in the first two or three weeks that I had to set reminders to eat lunch and dinner.
• I don't long for food in the same way. We've all experienced the build up to a meal and then the longing for more when food is gone. I experience very little of both. Don't get me wrong, I do want to eat, but I don't particularly care what I eat unless it's a favorite food of mine. But even with that...instead of my anticipation being dialed up to 11, I'd say it's at a 4. I'm still excited to eat, but not all that much. Same goes once the meal is done...I don't long for more. Which leads me to my next point...
• Sometimes I just stop eating. I remember the first time I ate out with a friend (but not ate out a friend), I ate most of my gyro and then stopped. It wasn't because I was stuffed, but rather...I just lost interest in eating. I remember thinking, "That was really good...I've had enough." This is typically my mental process.
• The medication feels less strong on day 6 and 7. While not even close to how I felt without the medication, hunger feels more annoying. By day 7, I do crave my usual foods.
• I'm not relying on the medication to keep me below my caloric ceiling. This is the biggest reason why r/Zepbound has not been the best community for me. The folks there are using the medication to suppress their appetite and when they stop losing weight, they just increase the strength. They don't seem to be following any kind of meal plan or eating schedule. I think this is why I found success on 2.5mg because I have a plan and the medication makes the plan easier. I'm not allowing the medication to dictate the plan.

Overall, taking Zepbound has made cutting stupidly easy. I'm currently down 19.6lbs as of writing this and my current weight is 222.6lbs. I'm 1 pound away from my lowest weight ever except, I have way more muscle. To be honest, I think 220 is about where I'd like to stay, but I want to see what I'd look like at 210-215lbs. I don't have a drive to be skinny, but I'm mostly curious about what my physique would look like at that weight. We'll see. But if this continues, I'll be right in the middle of that by next month.

Originally, I planned on being on this medication simply for cutting, but the amount of mental space these meds have given me is just incredible. I don't think about food which means I can think about other things. I'm far less stressed out because of it.

✌🏾

I spent this past weekend in New York City to compete in a Hyrox competition. Because I waited so long to book my flight, I ended up just driving from Ohio to NYC to save some cash…but really, I just wanted to visit Dorney Park. It’s been since 2023 since I last visited NYC that I’ve been able to stop by the park and I’ve been eager to ride Iron Menace.

I was only in the park for about two hours, so I won’t do a full review, but overall I had a great time.

I arrived at Dorney Park about 10 minutes before open and made my way into the park with everyone that had gathered early. This day was almost identical to my previous trip to the park. Most of the coasters (at least the ones that were open) had an extremely short wait, but I still got my Fast Lane wristband just in case.

Iron Menace was testing when we walked into the park, so I ended up taking a spin on Steel Force first. I was quite surprised at the airtime on the first drop. While modeled after the legendary Magnum XL-200, Steel Force feels like it gets to the steepest point in its first drop a bit quicker than Magnum. The rest of the coaster is pretty solid, but we all know what my favorite hyper is.

Iron Menace still wasn’t open when I finished my loop, so I got some food from Center Stage Burger and Fries. I hoped the 5-10 minute wait for food meant that I was getting a fresh meal. Nah. Not only was it lukewarm, but the burger was pretty dry. But hey, it was free and getting a free meal was also part of my calculation in stopping by the park.

Iron Menace finally opened for riders, so I headed over. I ended up riding twice, once in the very back and once in the front. Overall, it’s a solid dive coaster that really fits the rest of the park. It’s thrilling without being too much for the general population. And the layout is fun enough that riders can absolutely marathon this thing. The high capacity absolutely aids in this.

But I have to mirror others’ comments that this thing runs like it’s about 20 years old. The jerkiness is no where near uncomfortable and I doubt there are any complaints about it currently. But similar to Rapterra, I have to wonder how this coaster will age. Steel Force delivers a smoother ride than this and it’s ancient by comparison. If I were Dorney, I’d ask for a 20% discount for my next B&M.

Demon Drop was closed. Hydra was closed. Wild Mouse was closed and then opened, but I skipped anyway. My last ride was on Talon…another solid B&M Invert. No headbanging whatsoever.

I left the park after 2 and 15 minutes. I handed my FL bracelet to some folks entering in the park and drove home.

Dorney is such a nice little park. Similar to Kennywood, it’s a small park with a lot to do. But I’d say that Kennywood offers a bigger variety of things to do that Dorney could take advantage of. It would be cool to see a few dark rides, live entertainment, etc. Still, I had a blast and I’m glad it stayed in the Six Flags chain.

Despite waiting a good 5 minutes for the burger, it was pretty dry. I don’t expect much from amusement park food, but I hoped it would taste a little better than this. Still ate the entire thing!

Last Friday, I made the 2.5 hour drive up to the best park in these United States of America, if not the world. The park was packed with teenagers for Senior Skip Day, but that was no problem. I went to the park to hang out with my buddy Tyler and meet up with a few members of Scream Queens Coaster Community.

The biggest highlight was…I GOT A ROLLBACK ON TT2! When we did the first launch, there was this small stutter in speed at the very beginning, but I thought, no big deal. But the launch backwards and especially the 3rd launch felt slower. Sure enough, we didn’t make it to the top and came speeding back down. The woman sitting next to me must have been extremely confused as to why I was so excited the coaster malfunctioned. We settled just past the staging area for about 10 minutes. Then we were brought forward to launch again.

Top Thrill 2 isn’t my number one coaster, but I think about this monster entirely too much. It is ALWAYS the first thing I want to ride.

Siren’s Curse is just as good as I remember. I never want a park to miss out on a coaster and I still don’t think Cedar Point needed another coaster, but I’m so glad we got it. Every coaster should have onboard audio.

Gemini broke down just as we were about to board, so we rode TT2 again.

I did go to Millennium Force to see if I could ride and I was able to buckle the seatbelt just fine. But I was about the limit. I’m glad they are getting the regular seatbelts back.

I am attempting to eat at every restaurant that offers a meal plan option at Cedar Point and Kings Island (because I always eat at the same places). This time, I went to The Grand Pavilion and had essentially fish and chips. I’m glad they improved their portions. Food was tasty, but they ran out of forks.

Can I also say that the Grand Pavilion has a frustrating set up? Like…why do they have doors to the seating area? I literally have food and a drink in my hands. They could at least install auto-open doors.

The park looks great. The operations are…improving. I am probably going to head back up in a few weeks for a solo day at the park. My goal is to run into the Happy Friar and the new park president with her litter grabber.

I’m pumped for this season.